That man’s statement “We put the meat on the pole, not on the plate” is absolutely disgusting and I can’t believe so many people in that community are blind to just how creepy and degrading it is.

Nicely said Mr D…

But I’m still a vegan/animal rights persun of joy and light, so mwaa *sticks out tongue*.

And isme, what’s wrong with being crazy? I’m crazy and I’m pretty frikin’ fabulous if I do say so myself. Oh well, I’m sure you didn’t mean it. *hugs*

That is the case of all ideological groups, to a greater or lesser extent.

Fortunately, though, not so many people pay attention to PETA as they could, because they are quite obviously batshit crazy. “Officially” changing the name from “fish” to “sea kitten”, for example.

I’m glad to see at least a bit of space here dedicated to a critique of PETA’s hateful ad campaigns, however I sense a bit of reluctance to have-atter because PETA’s exploitation is in the service of a “higher cause”.

I live in a small community in the north. I come from 10+ generations of hunters, small-farmers and fishers, folks who have been living pretty self-sufficiently from the same small area of land and sea for centuries.

I am an artist (and for those with subconcious anti-rural bigotry who are thinking “she can’t be a very successful artist if she’s not urban” – I’ve been making a living at this for 30+ years, exhibit internationally on a regular basis. I left the city and came home because I COULD), a radical feminist and a hunter. I have had, for most of my life, the luxury of being an omnivore without having to buy products – animal or veg – from big agribusiness.

I find, unfortunately, that because I hunt for meat, because I have served the meat of animals I have either tracked and shot, or bottle-fed and named when they were young, that my fellow left-liberals dismiss me as some sort of Sarah Palin wannabe. I’ve been attacked on other rad-fem blogs for daring to say that not all hunters are insecure violent macho assholes (some are, LOTS are not. In fact, that bullshit is called Poaching where I come from and it is not tolerated). It’s pretty dismaying.

I hate the meat industry as much as the next person. However, it concerns me that propaganda like PETA’s ads, not only dehumanize women, they vilify members of some of the few remaining communities and cultures that live close to the resources that sustain them, people for whom those resources are part of their community. What scares me is that the well-intentioned ideas behind PETA’s politics bring us closer to a fantasy of the natural world that is no more like reality than Pamela Anderson’s face and body are “natural”. Anyone who has had the opportunity to live in a place where groceries are right outside the door in their original state, whether it’s the moose you hunt and kill in the fall to supply family, friends and neighbours with food for the winter, or the chickens in the yard, comes to realize that the functional application of animal rights is a fantasy that could only be conceived in a human-made environment and ultimately leads to the domestication of plant and animal species.

PETA and others fit very nicely into a patriarchal construct (“virgin wilderness” anyone? Donate money to save a particular “beautiful” and “innocent” species over one that is actually endangered?). They not only reinforce ugly messaging to women about their appearance, they apply a beauty contest to nature, spending millions campaigning to save pretty and sexy animals and ignoring real species and habitats in crises.

They are just another facet of the man-chine and it’s heartbreaking when people who care can’t see the difference.

The thing that annoys me more, is that living in a relatively small city is that the options for animal rights activism are fairly limited – but oh no, the local group wants to do lettuce leaf bikini demonstrations ala PETA which is where I put my foot down and just thought “fuck this shit.” I don’t really see how it’s going to help.
Kudos