Examples Of Masculinity In Poaaching

Poaching Wildlife as a Demonstration of Masculinity

People engage in poaching wildlife in order to demonstrate their masculinity to others. In this essay I will explain how there is a tie between animal abuse and poaching wildlife and how that connection helps us to better understand why people poach. When poaching or hunting an animal many people focus on the size of the animal, or body parts like the amount of horns an animal has, to determine the success of the poacher or hunter. The more prestigious an animal is, the more prestigious the kill seems. Although most of us look down on poaching, the masculinity that poachers feel is what keeps them committed to poaching wildlife. First we must look at animal abuse and define masculinity in the cases of animal abuse. “It has been suggested that animal abuse may be a mechanism for demonstrating one’s masculinity since it often exemplifies such “masculine” traits as aggression, domination, and the suppression of feeling” (Agnew, 83). Using this definition of masculinity it is immediately apparent that there is a link
between animal abuse and poaching animals. When poaching wildlife a person is expressing domination over large and beautiful animals. The fact that they aren’t legally allowed to poach these animals also demonstrates masculinity as they are dominating over set laws and rules that we have established. Although abusing an animal and killing one are different, when killing wildlife a poacher shows aggression. Murdering wildlife is also a way to help suppress feelings. Another reason that animal abusers and poachers are related is because “Individuals who commit one form of deviance are likely to commit other forms as well” (Agnew, 92). In this case not only are both animal abuse and poaching wildlife deviant actions, but they are also very similar in the fact that they are harming animals. When poaching wildlife people are trying to find and kill the largest animals or those with the most prominent features, such as the amount of points that a pair of elk horns have. Granfield and Colomy tell us “similarly, Jo Evans, a lobbyist representing several hunting and conservation groups, described trophy-class animals as “the largest, the best, and the most beautiful.”” (138). What is going to make a person feel more masculine, killing a small deer or killing an elk like Samson in Estes Park? The larger an animal is, the more dominant the poacher is going to feel. Last year I took a class in which the premise of was to help save elephants from poachers in Asia. Although elephants have a large monetary value, we discussed that another reason poachers preyed on them was to feel power. Killing an elephant is killing one of the largest living creatures on our planet. Therefore when a person poaches an elephant it is a way to show off and attempt to prove their masculinity. “Samson’s Law served as a boundary marker, establishing and reaffirming several boundaries.
First, it legally inscribed a hierarchical distinction between the more highly prized trophy-class animals and their somewhat less valued, normal-sized brethren” (Granfield and Colomy, 141). When Samson’s Law was passed due to a man poaching a local celebrity elk in Estes Park, it differentiated certain animals from one another and the consequences in the killing of them. An animal that is less valued, for example a duck, isn’t that rare to kill and therefore isn’t as impressive of a kill. If a person poaches the largest elk in Estes Park, Colorado, they are going to receive a lot of attention, and that is exactly what happened in the case of Samson. Again, the domination being expressed when killing an animal of that size is large, and thus leaves the poacher with a sense of
masculinity. Granfield and Colomy say “By contrast, the poacher was vilified, and he (no mention was made of female poachers)…” (141). Even they noticed in their research that poachers were always referred to as males. This further supports the claim that people poach to express their masculinity because it is just generally assumed that poachers are male and therefore it is easy to see how poachers believe poaching solidifies their masculinity. Wildlife poaching is a major problem in today’s society and the question of why people must participate in it is constantly on our minds. The relationship between animal abuse and poaching helps us to understand why people would take part in a practice as sick as either. People are willing to go far lengths, like poaching protected animals in order to attempt to express masculinity. When Samson was poached and the Samson Law was passed certain animals values increased in the eyes of the poaching community while certain animals remained normal. Poaching the more valuable animal means being more aggressive in breaking the law and dominating larger, harder to kill animals. Masculinity and the need that people have to feel masculine lead them to poach wildlife.