Speaking on Meat

Communication and Values Surrounding the Meat Industry

Final Reflection

Between the two activities I completed, I noticed a dynamic between personal values and social contexts. The Power Map activity led me to consider how values and ideologies regarding use of animal products are constructed within a society, especially by the messaging circulated from various actors, and how consumers receive those messages. Most humans in our society internalize messages from mass media and dominant cultural norms which normalize meat consumption and never raise the possibility of its being an ethical question; these messages are supported by lobbying efforts of the meat industry, which has a strong economic interest in maintaining that status quo. On the other hand, among vegan, plant-based and other marginalized perspectives on this particular issue, there is great diversity in ideological attitudes and personal motivations for forgoing meat consumption.

The Play a Position activity turned the focus to an individual perspective of how to apply those ideology-derived values to the decisions that one personally faces, and how those personal circumstances shape the various ways that actors might interpret the messaging they have internalized. In playing the position, I grounded my determination to avoid animal products in an ethical position opposed to animal exploitation; this led me to consider on a case-by-case basis whether using a given resource would entail exploitation of some kind. If someone were playing with a similar restriction but for a different motivation (for example, playing a pure pacifist position for a more challenging gameplay experience or for roleplaying purposes), they might make different decisions on where to draw the line.

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