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PETA use sexist advertising

Sheffield Animal Friends | 15.03.2010 08:21 | Animal Liberation

As abolitionist vegans and feminists, we oppose the use of sexist tactics in the animal advocacy movement. Ethical animal rights veganism is part of the logical conclusion of opposition to the exploitation of all sentient beings — both human animals and non-human animals. Opposing speciesism is incompatible with engaging in sexism or any other form of discrimination, such as racism, heterosexism, classism, and other forms of oppression.

In the article, PETA are rightly taken to task over their insensitive, sexist campaigns. Thankfully, the group has much less of a presence in the UK than they do in the USA, but they do sometimes make an impact over here. Today they managed to gain the media attention they crave with a stunt at dog show Crufts with banners declaring ‘Hitler Would Be Proud’.

“Breeding dogs is an abhorent [sic] business and the speciesism and vanity of ‘owners’ causes dogs massive health problems, as was demonstrated in the investigation Pedigree Dogs Exposed. The case against the Kennel Club, and their obsession with breeding dogs to an arbitrary and dangerous aesthetic standard, is easy to make. However, PETA refrained from a measured discussion of dog-breeding and the practice’s historical links with eugenics, or perhaps an elucidation of the links to the narrow standards of beauty in contemporary western human society, instead preferring to shock above all other goals and invoke Godwin’s Law.

Sheffield Animal Friends

Comments

Hide the following 18 comments

Well if they've broken any industry guidelines,

15.03.2010 08:43

... report them to the industry watchdog (geddit?)

The return of anti-spe

The best thing to do...

15.03.2010 09:26

If you don't like how PeTA operate, the best thing to do is start a more effective group than them. Don't just sit and gripe about the bits of what they do that you don't like, just go and do it all better. If there were a bigger, more effective, more ethical group than PeTA then they would have no reason to exist.

Arthur Dally

please explain

15.03.2010 09:52

Confused! What is sexist about eugenics?

a reader

...preferring to shock above all other goals...

15.03.2010 09:58

It's true Peta do use sexism, but the whole point is that they "...[prefer] to shock above all other goals..." since that is what guarantees press coverage of the issue.

The sad truth is that a right-on PC demonstration with rational explanation will be ignored by the media as it's too boring. Being deliberately controversial makes it much more likely your message gets to a larger audience, even if it does get slightly dumbed down. That is the whole reason why Peta does these things. They are self-confessed media whores and that is their main reason for existence.

anon

eh?

15.03.2010 10:11

in what article? What are you talking about?

Miserablist
Homepage: http://miserablist.tk

link to the article

15.03.2010 11:07

Hey, I'm in SAF and the article here seems to be an extract from the first article on our website:

http://www.sheffieldaf.org.uk/

Our article links to a statement about sexism in the AR movement, which is worth a read but not written by us. We then mentioned the insensitivity and narrow-mindedness (not sexism) of PETA's recent stunt at Crufts.

And yes, we agree about organising ourselves - if you want to get active in Sheffield get in touch!

Someone in SAF

Original article

15.03.2010 11:45

The Indymedia article quotes from an article on the Sheffield Animal Friends website, but doesn't link to that article or the one quoted by SAF. Read the original and it might make more sense! Sorry if this is a repost - I tried to comment a while ago but it doesn't seem to have gone through...

Someone in SAF
Homepage: http://www.sheffieldaf.org.uk/

good points made

15.03.2010 12:38

i agree that peta use sexist imagery and concepts in their work and that it is deeply offensive as well as counter-productive.

i also agree with arthur dally about the best way to defeat such behaviour. wish it was as easy to do as to write, but nonetheless it is true!

however i am at least as offended by their use of the hitler analogy, and also consider that a counter-productive tactic. even if it is specie-ist (something i have mixed feelings about tbh) i think it fails as a tactic.

by the way i have mixed heritage which includes some jewish ancestors. i am also female-bodied and woman-identified. finally i am vegan.

hitler would have gassed me for my jewish-heritage, my history of mental health diagnoses, my political activities, my criminal record, and my sexuality. as i understand it the only category i would have fitted into in hitler's plans for the gas-chamber would be the category of gypsy/traveller.

i think single-issue campaigns are valid and useful but only as a tactic and only when we don't forget deep-down how much it all links together.

peta gets lots of funding from rich and powerful people, who do not want to fund more radical (=getting to the root of the problems) type groups of people. therefore we have to work harder and be more imaginative than peta and the like. it is difficult, but it isn't impossible.

agreeer

correction of a typo

15.03.2010 14:24

sorry that should have said "the only category i would NOT have fitted into"

agreer

The failure of the animal rights movement

15.03.2010 14:57

I think it's a shame other groups don't follow many of Peta's tactics. Most AR groups follow the same old tired tactics. Dull marches, letter writing. Then they accuse the media of conspiring to keep the AR message out of the media. You need to give the media a story and that is the genius of Peta. They have imagination and flare. Yes, they use sexy images of women. So what. I contest your claim that using a sexy image of a man or a woman is 'sexist'. Men and women alike are attracted to the image of a beautfiul woman. It's a common marketing ploy and I don't see a problem with using such images in AR.

The AR movement is in a sorry state in the UK. Always patting itself on the back yet it's number dwindle year on year. I wish Peta would grow in this country. I think they are the only AR group that are really challenging the same tired old tactics that are failing to grab attention and get AR talked about.

If you want to attack groups for being sexist or 'objectifying' women why pick a group campaigning for animal rights? Why not go for corporate magazines like Nuts or big advertisers? But, no, infighting and splitting the AR movement further is your choice.

Anne

re: Anne

15.03.2010 15:35

I appreciate that PETA are skilled at using the media and we can learn from them, but attention grabbing stunts don't have to compromise our beliefs and denigrate other groups. Igualdad Animal in Spain and Latin America seem to be quite successful in grabbing attention with eye-catching manifestations in city centres, with lots of people covered in "blood" or holding pictures of (or actual, recovered from farms) dead animals.

One problem with PETA's advertisements is that they reflect and reproduce a very specific idea of "sexy" - predominantly female but almost always reflecting the airbrushed, toned ideal represented in the mainstream media. This unrealistic ideal harms self-image and self confidence for the vast majority of people who don't seem themselves matching it. Also, media exposure doesn't automatically lead to people taking on the ideas around animal rights - of course an advert with a model covered only with a couple of lettuce leaves is going to attract attention but it will alienate people as well as enticing the people who see Pamela Anderson's tits as a logical argument for veganism.

PETA was mentioned because it's on an AR website, so the articles should have some link with AR. I don't think it's splitting the movement to point out the failings of one group with a small presence here, and to point out that speciesism isn't the only form of oppression.

SAFer

incoherent

15.03.2010 15:44

really don't get what you're going on about here.

elucidate

vtery coherent to me

15.03.2010 17:10

thank you SAFer i thought you made very clear, easy to understand, and sensible points.

remember when many of the "super-models" who previously had worked with peta on their "i'd rather go naked than wear fur" campaign then went on to model fur on the catwalk and wear it at events where media photographers leapt upon it as a news story? didn't do peta much good i didn't think.

like you say i think it is entirely possible to grab attention (and even be sexy) without conforming to sexist and narrow definitions of beauty and sexiness. most people in real life don't actually think that only one or two (female) body-types are sexy, and that could be tapped into. or they could grab attention without at all using the body-beautiful as a way to do that. animals come in all shapes and sizes, don't they, and are all beautiful in their own unique ways...

peta has access to some of the world's best creative minds in terms of PR and advertising, i wish they would use them more imaginatively that's all.

how does me expressing this view "split the movement"? i am not in a "movement" but i am interested to understand the argument that it splits a movement when anyone within expresses a respectful critique of one part of the behaviour of others in that movement.

agreer

Aas far as I have seen, PETA have always used sexy images of women...

15.03.2010 19:08

Of course criticisng one's actions is not enough to split the movement.

The problem that I pick with PETA is the way they present women in their promotional campaigns. I've noticed how scantily-clad women, or women that are totally naked, are used in their campaigns. I would perhaps say most of theri material featuers a famous celebrity in the nude.

The problem with this is that it draws the most attention to these beautiful naked women, not the plight the animals are suffering- which is the real reason to go vegetarian/vegan, amongst other reasons, which is the motivation behind their commitment as activists in the first place!

The thing is, in our society, seeing ideal images of women is so common, it doesn't come as a surprise that not that many people are thinking about things linked to animals and their rights. I think that this is what PETA should be acknowledging.

I remember on the F-Word blog, a clip being shown that was PETA's new promotional video for vegetarianism, released just in time for the Superbowl. Yes, I know it's US-based, but the point is is that it didn't educate anyone about how brutal the meat industry is, in order to encourage people to go veggie. What did it feature? Women in lingerie masturbating with turnips and carrots!

Now, if anything encouraged me to go veggie, it certainly wasn't the idea that masturbating with vegetables would make me sexy...

Tallulah

It's up to the women concerned..if you don't like it don't look

15.03.2010 19:52

I'm fed up with the PETA haters....

Feminist

Yawn

15.03.2010 20:17

Why are the only exampes of effective media based AR campaigns non-UK? When you can say, "the way we get mass media publicity is..." or "we reach several million people with our message by..." then slag off PeTA, until then maybe put your energy into out-campaigning them? Also, how is it sexist to use images of women AND men as PeTA do? And surely at the end of the day it is up to the people in their poster campaigns, if someone with a global fabase offers to help spread the message of an AR issue with a poster campaign, should PeTA tell them no?

Bill Sykes

ok but

15.03.2010 23:25

if someone is too lazy to think through a subject and so comes up with knee jerk ill-informed crap like the above two poster should i use my time and energy explaining reality to them or should i use it on more productive projects and hope that they work it out for themselves one day?

questioning

reality check

16.03.2010 11:17

Women at the English Collective of Prostitutes are attacked by bigoted "feminists"...the sort of fascists who tell other women what to do.

There is also a concerted effort at the moment by people from the animal abuse industries who pretend to be AR and attack and smear PETA over everything they do.