Happy International Women’s Day! A day to celebrate women, their rights, and their achievements. And, importantly, to highlight the ongoing inequalities that women still face globally.

It’s also a great day to acknowledge the other females—y’know, the ones we exploit every single day without a second thought.

The ones whose reproductive systems are literally the foundation of industries we call “ethical,” “humane,” and “natural.”

Dairy: Forced Pregnancies, Stolen Babies, and the Ultimate Betrayal

According to a recent survey, almost half of Brits don’t know that cows have to be impregnated to produce milk.

Which is wild, because last time I checked, lactating wasn’t a personality trait.

What the actual f*ck?

Reality check, people:

🐄 Cows don’t just ‘give’ milk. They produce it for their babies.
🐂 They are forcibly impregnated (yes, by humans, in a process called ‘artificial insemination’ which is as gross as it sounds).
🍼 Their calves are taken away almost immediately so we can drink her milk instead.
💔 Male calves are either shot in the head at birth or raised for veal.
👵 When their milk production declines and their exhausted bodies give out, dairy cows are slaughtered for cheap beef at a fraction of their natural lifespan.

If this happened to human women, it would be called… err, I don’t even know. Enslavement, rape, infanticide (?), sexual exploitation, torture, murder.

But when it happens to cows? It’s just ‘farming’. 

Eggs: The Factory-Farmed Female Body

The egg industry also thrives on exploiting the female reproductive system.

🐥 Chickens are selectively bred to lay unnaturally high numbers of eggs (300+ a year, instead of the natural 10-15).
🔪 Male chicks are useless to the industry, so they’re gassed or ground up alive on day one. Google chick macerator, I dare ya.
🍳 Laying hens are either kept in cages or packed into sheds, suffering from all sorts of health conditions like osteoporosis, reproductive disease, and exhaustion.
🛑 Once they stop producing enough eggs, they’re killed—again, at a fraction of their lifespan.

The best bit about this is the egg industry have done such a wonderful marketing and PR job that people think ‘free range’ eggs are products of happy chickens. 

Well, guess what? A bunch of loopholes (including bird flu risk) means a ‘free range’ hen may never have seen the light of day. 

Side note: I have worked on a chicken farm, and the f*cked up sh*t that goes on in those barns is so disturbing it needs to be another post…

Breeding: The Pets We Love vs. The Ones We Don’t

Ah, but we don’t just exploit the reproductive systems of farmed animals.

Dog breeding? Same same but different, friends. 

🐶 Female dogs are forcibly bred, over and over again, to supply the pet market.
🐕 They often spend their whole lives as breeding machines.
🏚 Meanwhile, millions of healthy dogs sit in shelters, waiting for homes—or worse, are euthanized because of overpopulation. 

In the US alone, 568 dogs are killed in shelters every day. In the UK, around 21 otherwise healthy dogs are put down daily. In Cyprus, the figure is estimated at 54. For a country of 1.3 million people, that statistic is sickening. Current legislation allows stray dogs to be euthanized if they’re not adopted (or reclaimed) within two weeks. But anyway, Cyprus’s attitude towards animals is a topic for another day. 

Ever noticed how people will go feral over a stray dog needing rescue, but then turn around and drop hundreds (or thousands) on a designer puppy from a breeder? 

Make it make sense.

International Women’s Day: A Selective Kind of Feminism

While we’re talking about the fight for women’s rights, it’s worth asking: why do we only extend that fight to our own species?

Because when it comes to bodily autonomy, reproductive exploitation, and systemic oppression, billions of female animals experience the most extreme versions of these injustices—every single day.

Why do we stand against the exploitation of one group while literally funding the exploitation of another?

If you care about women’s rights, it’s time to think about how we treat all females—not just the ones that look like you.

Because, and be honest: do you see a world where we put an end to sexism and oppression and achieve full gender equality for human women, but continue to exploit female animals? 🤔

If you fight against reproductive control, sexual exploitation, and bodily autonomy violations, but still consume dairy, eggs, and other animal products…

Then, respectfully—what the f*ck are you doing?

What You Can Do Today

💜 Go vegan. Stop paying for reproductive exploitation—of any species.
💜 Support sanctuaries, not breeders. Adopt, don’t shop.
💜 Speak up. Because the ones being exploited can’t.