The focus of the month "What is a Person" may seem self-explanatory. And yet, when we dare to question our initial definition of personhood, we find that our perception is limited, our biases are the result of social conditioning, and that we have room to expand in terms of seeing personhood in others.
I did a quick research on peacocks and found out a few interesting things about them. The peacocks refer to the males, but they don’t start growing their trains until age three. So while we were probably learning how to use a toilet at that age, they are starting to grow these beautiful feathers. Another thing is that when a peacock fans his train, his feathers emit a sound that is so low in frequency that we humans won't be able to hear it. And depending on whether they want to attract females from far away or up close, they can change the sound by shaking different parts of their feathers. They can also be quite manipulative. When peacocks mate with peahens, they give out a loud “copulatory call.” It is found out that as much as one third of the time, this sound is faked so they can appear more sexually active than they were and attract more females.
If we get to know other beings, we will find that the world they live in has their own quirks and complexities, rules and codes, they move according to what they understand, not what we necessarily understand. And it doesn't matter if they were peacocks or chickens or ants or crocodiles or turkeys or horses, other beings live according to the world that they perceive. However different their worlds are from ours is not a reflection of a lack in their personhood; it is merely a reflection of our lack in understanding.
What is a person? A person is any sentient being, and to respect their personhood is give them their freedom, to not take anything of theirs, not their feathers or fur or skin, not their flesh or eggs or secretions, and most certainly not their lives. A person's life belongs to that person; it doesn't belong to me.
One important way of honoring the personhood of all beings is to be vegan. It is the compassionate expression of respecting all of life.