Domination may be either cruel and exploitive with no affection or may be exploitive yet coexist with affection. The former produces the victim – in this case, the Black woman as "mule" whose labor has been exploited. In contrast, the combination of dominance and affection produces the pet, the individual who is subordinate and whose survival depends on the whims of the more powerful. The "beautiful young quadroons and octoroons" described by Alice Walker were bred to be pets – enslaved Black mistresses whose existence required that they retain the affection of their owners. The treatment afforded these women illustrates a process that affects all African-American women: their portrayal as actual or potential victims and pets of elite White males.
While Patricia Hill Collins is writing on the dehumanization of Black women and the intersection of race and sex, the above quote makes use of the no-less-real exploitation of nonhuman animals.
Pets are often over looked as a target of exploitation. Terms like "animal companion" in place of "pet" and "guardian" in place of "owner" are euphemisms that hide the exploitation in the relationship by emphasizing the affection. The concept of the pet is also used to suggest that if other animals were kept on idyllic farms it would be alright to exploit them. It is this idea of the pet that is behind the contrast between the "family farm" and the "factory farm."
As Patricia Hill Collins makes clear, it is not just nonhuman animals who are treated as pets. Children, women, and workers, to name a few, are also often treated as pets. Adults, men, and bosses as agents of exploitation may treat each respective target of exploitation with affection, but that doesn't mean the relationship is not oppressive.
Allowing for some members of an oppressed groups to be treated as pets only helps perpetuate oppression and forestall liberation. That is, making allowances for "nice" men who use women undermines the feminist movement; making allowances for paternalistic corporate executives who provide "competitive" wages and benefits but prohibit their employees from organizing undermines the labor movement; and making allowances for "guardianship" and "family farms" undermines the vegan movement.
