Melanie Joy is an American social psychologist and writer who in 2009 wrote Why we love dogs, eat pigs, and wear cows, a book where she expounds on the concept of "carnism": the belief system that considers eating certain animals so natural and necessary that it justifies structural violence against them, a belief that most of us don't question because, as Joy points out, all violent ideologies try to remain invisible in order to perpetuate their power of limitless exploitation and maximum profit. This requires killing as many animals as possible in the shortest amount of time possible, and these animals cease to be considered living beings and become things that can be accumulated, processed, and killed in any way.