Melanie Joy facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Melanie Joy
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Melanie Joy on TEDx in 2015
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| Born | September 2, 1966 |
| Nationality | American |
| Education | Harvard University (M.Ed.) Saybrook University (Ph.D.) |
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Melanie Joy (born September 2, 1966) is an American social psychologist and author. She is best known for creating the term carnism. This word helps explain why people eat some animals but not others.
Melanie Joy is the president of a group called Beyond Carnism. This group works to raise awareness about how we view animals. She used to be a professor of psychology and sociology at the University of Massachusetts Boston. She has written several books, including Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs, and Wear Cows.
Melanie Joy's Background
Melanie Joy studied at important universities. She earned her master's degree from Harvard Graduate School of Education. She then got her Ph.D. in psychology from Saybrook University.
When she was 23, she got very sick from eating a bad hamburger. This experience made her decide to stop eating meat and become a vegetarian. She later realized that this change helped her see how animals are treated in a new way.
She explained that before, she didn't want to see the truth about animal farming. But once she stopped eating meat, she became more open. Learning about how meat, eggs, and dairy are produced made her feel upset. She felt confused and like everything she knew had changed.
Later, Melanie Joy slowly became a vegan. She started studying why people eat meat. She noticed that people often had strange or unclear ideas about it. This led her to believe that how we think about eating meat is a learned way of thinking. This idea became a big part of her work.
What is Carnism?
Melanie Joy first used the word carnism in 2001. It became more well-known with her 2009 book, Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs, and Wear Cows.
Carnism is a system of beliefs that makes it seem normal to eat certain animals. It helps explain the "meat paradox." This is when people love some animals, like their pets, but eat other animals, like pigs or cows. It's about the confusing feelings people have about animals. Many experts agree with Joy's ideas about how eating meat affects our views on animals.
Working for Animals
In 2010, Melanie Joy started a group called Carnism Awareness & Action Network (CAAN). It is now known as Beyond Carnism. This group works to change how people think and talk about eating meat.
They do this by giving public talks and creating media campaigns. They also make videos and train people who want to help animals. Their work mainly focuses on the United States and Germany. Experts believe their new ways of working could help create a strong network of animal rights supporters.
Other Projects
In 2022, Melanie Joy started a podcast called Just Beings. She hosted it with actress Evanna Lynch.
In 2024, she was in a British movie called I Could Never Go Vegan.
See also
- List of animal rights advocates
- Speciesism
