I love animals. I have grown up surrounded by them and currently share my life with this divine kit-cat called Cookie who my husband and I rescued. I don’t like pet stores that sell farmed puppies and kittens and would never buy a pet from them. I don’t believe people should purchase deliberately bred animals when there are so many waiting to be adopted, but in saying that, I’m not about to jump on board the People for Ethical Treatment of Animails (PETA) latest adoption campaign either.PETA seem to have a very nasty habit of attempting to tell the wider public to do something positive for animals while at the same time harming and ridiculing people – the very people that can make a difference to animal welfare. Who knew they could be so stupid?
PETA’s latest campaign is ridiculous. Some bright spark in the PETA family came up with the idea that to help guide people towards adopting rather than buying animals, they should photograph a nude starlet with over inflated breasts, a strategically placed crucifix covering her nipples and vagina and then airbrush her to glossy perfection. Can anyone see the irony in encouraging people to adopt animals that are potentially not as cute and ‘perfect’ than those who are designer bred and then shove this sort of image in our faces? I do.
Then again, I guess I shouldn’t really be surprised that PETA think this sort of advertising is ok when they also released this campaign in 2009.
Please PETA. Can someone, anyone, in your organisation, grow a brain cell and stop thinking that it is acceptable to promote animal welfare while simultaneously belittling people in this way. Your ‘Save the Whales’ effort is body hatred for anyone that doesn’t look like your perfect angel at its blatant worst and she is nothing more than a bad take off of a Victoria’s Secret angel. And you don’t want to get me started on how body image anxiety provoking for many girls and women they are…
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Oh my goodness! Massive trigger for that campaign! I used vegeratianism/veganism for 8 years to hide/further enable my eating disorder.
Being vegetarian enabled my iron levels to run so low that I developed anaemia, and am still susceptible to it.
Besides that – for most true vegetarians/vegans, it's a lifestyle, it's NOT a weight thing. It's based on morals, not waistline. Besides that, eating a vegetarian diet dramatically decreases the avaliability of protein. And from a biological point of view, it's a diet rich in carbs, fats and proteins which keeps up healthy and full. Sure, you can have a healthy vegetarian diet – but it's not easy and certainly not something which should undertaken without due consideration!
My gosh… I myself am a vegetarian and im still no size 8, Plus I have three adopted/found cats and they are more beautiful then any farmed pet could ever be… What on earth are PETA trying to achieve? PETA have made their money and fame through scare tactics such as disgusting films of animals being slaughtered. I definately would not put this past them.
P.S Julie.. I love your blog.
Whatever PETA is doing, it's good for (their) bottom line. Their "income" in 2004 was a mere 23 million USD. In 2008 it was over 30 million!!!
Exploiting women pays, I guess..ugh.
Julie Trevor, Stowe, VT
poor show PETA….time to grow up I think
PETA is a very small group in the big picture and they need to go up against people with far more money – the meat industry. If you think about PURE PURE PURE economics they are using the best resource they have models. What else do they have? Money? Nope they lose. Power? Ummmm Oprah backed down to the meat industry. Oprah? I have a great deal of respect for what she has done but she took a weak stand against the meat industry. That is fine if she did not believe what she was fighting for…
Jobs? Think about all the jobs around the meat industry.
Power, money, jobs, even politics – Gore said "I will not go vegetarian.
Look at the famous male vegans? What a joke of a list right? NOBODY really…
Ellen degeress is probably there only big supporter out there.
Being vegan as I am for the most part requires a great deal of diet analysis and is not for everyone.
I am not in agreement with what PETA is doing but it will work… Work = gain attention… It would be great if you ran a post with more EFFECTIVE suggestions for peta to go up against more money, more power, etc etc and have it be effective.
This is great that you are sharing this… it allows for the possibility of you suggesting something MORE effective.
The founder of PETA is against having pets of any kind which is a viewpoint I do not share for example and I do not have pets.
Kindest regards
I've been vegetarian almost my whole life and used to be a member of PETA until they started abusing women under the guise of stopping the abuse of animals. The constant overt sexism and use of female nudity has gone way too far. PETA are treating women like animals – commodities that can be bought and sold to suit their own agenda. They are alienating so many potential supporters.