Is it natural? Does it matter?

In a sociology course I’m taking, to convince the class that social change is possible, the instructor told us, “Humans don’t actually have any instincts.”  In Robert Jensen’s Getting Off: Pornography and the End of Masculinity—a book that I recommend—to convince readers that change is possible, Jensen emphasizes that aggressive, king-of-the-hill masculinity is socially constructed, not natural.  Every day, vegans make arguments to non-vegans that humans are naturally herbivores because of our teeth, the way we chew, and our difficulty with digesting raw flesh.  In each of these examples, someone advocating social change assumes it’s important to debunk the “naturalness” of some human behavior.

First, I’d mention that these claims are often hard to support.  How do you define “natural”?  Why does the category “natural” include all animal behavior except recent human behavior?  Why isn’t the anti-oppression movement “natural,” too?  After all, it’s happening!  Maybe by a trick of terminology one could say that humans have no “instincts”—but most of us get hungry when we need food, most of us feel a desire to do the acts that lead to reproduction, and most newborn babies “know” to turn their head and suck for nourishment.  Refusing to call these “instincts”—even when they’re called “instincts” for nonhuman animals—is not only confusing but also, unless I’m missing something, speciesist.

My point here is not to argue that our violence is “natural” but instead to bring the emphasis away from what’s “natural” and toward what we actually feel is right—what we feel we want to support.  The reason I’m vegan is not because I think it’s the “natural” way.  It’s because I think it’s the best way.  It’s the way that feels best to me in my gut, and it’s the way that makes the most sense to me logically.  I’m vegan because, to me, it seems fair, equal, beautiful.  I’ve been making some changes in my life over the past couple years—working to be more respectful to everyone; working to feel less anger, and to deal with anger in calm, nonviolent ways; working to dissolve the sexism and racism I notice in my thoughts.  It doesn’t seem relevant to me whether these change efforts are “natural.”  The point is that they make life better for me and for everyone around me.

Instead of challenging the “naturalness” of violence and hierarchy, I think we can just challenge violence and hierarchy directly.  We can assert that “naturalness,” however defined, doesn’t really matter to us.  We can assert that we want to build a better world, one that is fair and beautiful for everyone.  And if that means working to change some “natural” behavior, then I think that is o.k.  We are willing to do that for each other.