The two words "dairy" and "feminism" are not commonly heard within the same sentence or even conversation for that matter. The question I pose regards two ideologies, and the possibility of conflicting morals.

Despite the common misconception that feminism strives to place women above men, the goal of the movement is for overall equality of the sexes. The feminist movement was strongly relevant in 2017 and was largely represented during the worldwide protest known as the Women's March. As a student attending a liberal arts college, the struggle for equality is a regularly preached and demonstrated act that is hard to go unnoticed throughout the everyday commute to class.

The most touching movement presented to me throughout my education has been the Vegan movement. The Vegan movement strives to promote the equality of all of the animals on the planet, including humans. This does not mean to say Vegans believe animals should have the right to vote, but that they deserve the right to the same protections a dog or a cat would have.

Overall advocating that animals should not be used for the personal benefit of people, not for food, not for apparel, and not for physical labor.

While watching a short video on the dairy industry, the biggest take away I received was the feeling of sympathy for the females involved in the industry, the dairy cows. In order to mass produce milk, the females are subjected to forced impregnation, endure pregnancy and birth, to inevitably have the calf taken away from them shortly after birth.

Milk is only produced after birth (some people actually have an "aha" moment to this mind-blowing concept). Milk is nature's way of allowing the mother to provide nutrients for her baby.

It is understandable for the circumstance of milk production to go unnoticed because when you drink milk or eat cheese, you generally do not think of why or how it was produced.

With that being said I came to wonder, are members of the feminist movement aware that by going home and consuming dairy, they are directly supporting an industry that not only practices rape but takes babies away from their mothers?