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Found In Translation

December 21, 2007

I stumbled upon this slut-shaming post at Feministing that reminds me why I’m glad I don’t read that blog regularly anymore. The post is criticizing this Alicia Silverstone PETA vegetarianism ad:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdNEhREYJ1c[/youtube]

Feministing is a great blog for beginner feminists, but if you really want to get a little deeper and think about the issues more, then you have to move on. The comments at Feministing were outrageously anti-animal rights, anti-vegan, and anti-woman. Feministing bloggers and commenters should be ashamed of themselves. Here are some of the comments along with my translations:

“I absolutely hate PETA, and this is yet another example of their complete lack of propriety when it comes to human life. Save the chickens, but women are STILL A PEICE [sic] OF MEAT. “

Translation: Women aren’t allowed to do what they want with their bodies. They can’t use their bodies for political or artistic expression unless I agree with the message.

“Wow, when there are people out there who care more about respecting animals than respecting people, there’s something wrong.”

Because the commenter can’t respect Alicia with her clothes off.

“You would think much more “women-friendly” people would be working for PETA.”

In other words: It’s not enough that PETA has a female president and many female as well as feminist employees and volunteers and that nude people in PETA ads (naked men too) freely choose to be nude for PETA. No, PETA must abide by my rules. I determine what’s women-friendly.

“there is absolutely no reason Alicia Silverstone had to be naked for that ad. gratuitous!”

In other words: Alicia is not allowed to make up her own mind about things. She can only be nude when I say so.

“Apparently it’s only important to get men[...] to go vegetarian.”

Because there are no other reasons someone might find nudity appealing. In other words: It’s only about sex and then, it’s only about heterosexual sex.

“Lets hope that PETA at least paid Silverstone good money for her image and that she didn’t do it for free.”

Because if she did it for free that might be evidence of her free-will.

“that ad is ridiculous. It’s like softcore porn. They could have shown her giving the same speech, but with clothes on, and the sexiness could have been subtly implied and I wouldn’t have been offended.”

Shorter version: I’m offended by naked bodies and sex. Get that gross vagina away from me! Slut!

“PETA makes me want to eat steak every night, just out of spite. Honestly.”

Translation: I’m an asshole. When I learn about cruelty and oppression I don’t look at the message. I look at the messenger and if I don’t like how the messenger looks, I double the cruelty and oppression they’re talking about.

“peta’s whole stance is that we should not exploit animals and yet they exploit womens bodies “to get their message across”. hypocrites.”

Because a woman choosing to go nude for a cause she is deeply passionate about is exploitation.

The good comments:

“hmn, guess I’m the only one here who actually likes PETA, and I’m not even vegan. I think that shock tactics hold a valuable place within any movement.

In regards to using women, why are we holding them to a higher standard than other groups that advertise? Sex sells, and I’d rather see if be used for a good cause than for seeling soap.”

This good comment is in response to the first comment above:

“Beth, you used the phrase “piece of meat” to refer to women. This ad did not. I fail to see any exploitation of women in this ad: a healthy, confidant woman lounges around while we hear her talk about her veganism. I’m not sure how effective it is, but I don’t see how it portrays her as a piece of meat. It’s not like the voiceover is a man saying “My girlfriend is a BABE now that she’s vegan.” Besides, in response to the comments that animal rights have nothing to do with the naked female body: animal rights are not the only reason to go vegan or vegetarian. Health reasons play a big part too, and since not once in this ad does Silverstone mention animal rights, I think we can assume that they’re playing up the angle of “go veg, be healthier and feel better.” What’s wrong with that?”

And this comment from someone recommending Feminists for Animal Rights:

“for those of you who don’t see the link between women’s rights and animal rights:

ANIMAL ADVOCACY IS A FEMINIST ISSUE
In patriarchal society women and animals are….
raped, beaten, hated, enslaved as pets
exploited as wives, sold for money, used
for entertainment, cheap labor, sex experiments…

In patriarchal society women and animals are
considered…
inferior, “cute,” childish, uncontrollable,
emotional, impulsive, instinctive, irrational,
evil, property, objects…

In patriarchal society women and animals are
referred to as…
chicks, bitches, pussies, foxes, dogs,
cows, beavers, birds, bunnies, kittens
sows, lambs, shrews, geese, fillies,
bats, crows, heifers, vixens…

Every year in the United States alone…
Billions of animals are enslaved, tortured and murdered in
“animal agriculture,” vivisection laboratories, the
entertainment industry, by hunters and fishers,
in traps and on fur farms, and by other modes of
human exploitation”

And most importantly, someone posted this letter from PETA:

“Dear Ms. XXX,
Thank you for your letter sharing your thoughts about our ads and campaigns. We appreciate the opportunity to address your concerns.

First, please know that, as an organization staffed largely by feminists, we would not do something that we felt contributed to the serious problems that women face. However, we feel that there is nothing shameful or “wrong” about being naked, and we believe that women—and men—should have the choice to use their own bodies as political statements. This tactic has been used since at least the 11th century, when Lady Godiva rode naked on a horse to protest taxes on the poor. Far from being exploited, our “naked” demonstrators and billboard models choose to participate in our actions because they want to do something to make people stop and pay attention to animal abuse.

Take Traci Bingham, for example, who posed for our “All Animals Have the Same Parts” ad campaign (http://www.GoVeg.com/feat/tracibee/). She is a deeply committed vegetarian who is known to millions for her television work, such as beating out a platoon of men to excel in an endurance test called Boot Camp. She chose to use her body to bring public attention to a serious animal issue. In this case, Ms. Bingham felt offended by the traditional “meat” posters that treat animals as “parts,” and she wanted to make the point that neither they nor women should be viewed as parts—we are all precious.

Consider that it is the societies that allow women to wear revealing clothing in which women have the most rights and the most power. Likewise, it is the societies that punish women for wearing revealing clothing in which women have the fewest rights and the least power—they are considered chattel who must do as they are told. Should women only be allowed to participate in activism if they promise not to show their bodies or use them to make social statements? If a person chooses to use her physicality and sexuality to convey a message of her choosing, aren’t those who would censor her, even if their motives are well-intended, also somewhat guilty of disrespect and repression?

Although our use of “nudity” is attention-grabbing, we don’t rely on it for the majority of our outreach, nor do we use it gratuitously; it is intended to underscore our message, whether it is “I’d rather go naked than wear fur,” to emphasize the health benefits of a vegetarian diet, or to show the vulnerability of animals in laboratories or circuses. We would also like to note that we do not feature only women in our more provocative ads; please see the following examples:
· http://www.FurIsDead.com/feat-rodman2.asp

· http://www.PETA.org/feat/jennaethan/

· http://www.FurIsDead.com/feat-kristoff.asp
Our purpose is to stop animal suffering like this, and we use all available opportunities to reach millions of people with powerful messages. The current situation is critical for billions of animals, and our goal is to make the public think about the issues. Sometimes this requires tactics—like naked marches and colorful ad campaigns—that some people find outrageous or even “rude,” but part of our job is to shake people up and even shock them in order to initiate discussion, debate, questioning of the status quo, and of course, action. After PETA publicized our “State of the Union Undress,” for example, we were rated the number one “mover” on Yahoo’s search engine, meaning that PETA received the greatest percentage increase of terms searched that day. We have found that people do pay more attention to our racier actions, and we consider the public’s attention to be extremely important.

Although we understand that some consider our projects that include nudity to be controversial, many express support for these tactics. However, PETA does make a point of having something for all tastes, from the most conservative to the most radical and from the most tasteless to the most refined, and this approach has proved amazingly successful—in the more than two decades since PETA was first founded, it has grown into the largest animal rights group in the world, with over 1.8 million members and supporters worldwide. For more information about PETA’s vital work for animals, please visit http://www.PETA.org/about.

We respect your right to disagree with our strategy but hope that you will continue to work for the animals in whatever way you feel comfortable (http://www.PETA.org/actioncenter); they are counting on all of us.

Thank you for providing us with this opportunity to explain our position on this important topic and for all that you do to help animals.

Sincerely,

The PETA Staff”

Chew on that.

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