Structuring relationships: On science, feminism and non-human animals

Abstract

Non-human animals and their behaviour are part of the remit of what psychology studies; yet they are largely absent from feminist theory. This is in part due to earlier decades of feminist disavowal of biology and biological determinism (manifest in the sex/gender distinction). To exclude animals makes little sense, however, as animal societies continue to be used as models for humans, including gender differences. In this article, I argue that how we see gender in animal societies is not only an extrapolation from our own cultural mores, but is also produced in part by the material practices of laboratories. If laboratory animals are kept in impoverished, restricted conditions, then it is perhaps not surprising that experiments designed to investigate their sexuality or gender differences produce limited understandings. To counteract these tales of biological restriction, we need to look more at the complexities of non-human animal behaviour and society — and in particular to emphasize how we build relationships with non-humans, as mutual co-creations.