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  1. Xiafu as an Ecofeminist novella
  a. Parallels between raping Lin Shi and butchering pigs: plight of women and animals is similar
  i. Knife v. penis
  ii. Squealing v. screaming
  iii. Male gets same feeling from butchering and sex
  b. Other aspects of nature in Xiafu
  i. Weather phenomena: Lin Shi’s life is reflected in weather patterns
  1. environment affects human life
  c. Similarities between bloody water on floor in slaughterhouse and dirtiness around well
  i. Bloody water: result of slaughtering pigs which is compared to raping Lin Shi
  ii. Environment around well: result of dirty laundry (gossip) being done which is also very harmful to Lin Shi
  1. Asks the question: is the raping or the gossip more harmful to LinShi
  a. One could argue that it is Auntie Ah Wang’s gossip that is more hurtful
  i. Before Ah Wang’s attempted hanging and decision to turn on Lin Shi, she at least had one pleasant aspect of her life
  ii. She heard Ah Wang and other women talking about her which hurt her feelings and led her to do things that caused her more pain, i.e. not screaming when he was taking advantage of her
  iii. In the end, Ah Wang’s stories even ruined her reputation in death
  1. she got revenge on man but not on Ah Wang
  2. Not a single good female character, whereas man that gives her food and Ah Wang’s son can be considered good male characters
  a. Asks the question: is this really a feminist novel?
  b. If there are no good female characters and, in the end, the females are just as harmful to one another as the men are to them, should we feel sorry for the women, or just for the animals
  
  1. Xiafu in the context of “The Politics of Meat”
  a. Many of Adams’ points are features of Xiafu
  i. Knife/penis, meat/women, butcher/rape
  ii. Killing of pets as a form of abuse
  1. ducks are killed
  2. Parts of Adams’ discourse I don’t agree with:
  a. Assembly line as a degradation to human productivity
  i. Assembly line made group as a whole more productive
  1. did not hurt individuals’ perceptions of themselves as much as it helped the confidence and output of the whole
  b. Comparison of women and animals as victims in all circumstances of male aggression is unfair to animals
  i. Women dress provocatively to entice/garner men’s attention。Sometimes this kind of behavior is a reason why men treat women as objects: because women sometimes voluntarily take on that role
  ii. But animals do not try to seduce butchers
  1. animals are more innocent that women