Opposing Views: NEWS:Is New PETA Campaign Featuring Overweight Woman Sexist?
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The animal rights group PETA has launched a new billboard campaign in Jacksonville, Florida that is raising the ire of some people who think it is sexist. The billboard features an overweight woman, with the tag line "Save The Whales-Lose The Blubber: Go Vegetarian."
PETA says the point of the billboard is to get people to stop eating meat, and as an added bonus, vegetarians weigh less than meat eaters.
PETA's press release reads:
A new PETA billboard campaign that was just launched in Jacksonville reminds people who are struggling to lose weight -- and who want to have enough energy to chase a beach ball -- that going vegetarian can be an effective way to shed those extra pounds that keep them from looking good in a bikini. The ad shows a woman whose "blubber" is spilling over the sides of her swimsuit bottom... Anyone wishing to achieve a hot "beach bod" is reminded that studies show that vegetarians are, on average, about 10 to 20 pounds lighter than meat-eaters...
"Trying to hide your thunder thighs and balloon belly is no day at the beach," says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman.
But many people are outraged, saying it is sexist to use an overweight woman to get a point across. The website Feministing.com writes:
I know I shouldn't be surprised by PETA's latest billboard campaign in Florida - after all, their brand of activism has proven to be sexist and racist time and time again - why not fat-shaming to boot?... This (stuff) is just shameful."
Jessica Wakeman at Thefrisky.com writes:
Oh, God, now even billboards are judging us? Insults and fat-shaming aren’t tried-and-true ways to encourage tofu instead of burgers. But something tells us that wasn’t the point: Bigger women were the ones chosen to be dehumanized so this cruel, sexist billboard could get some chuckles. Gross.
And Kimberly Morrison at the Jacksonville Business Journal:
I love animals and I like a lot of things PETA does, but this campaign is tacky, mean-spirited and seems to take pride in publicly humiliating two-thirds of Americans who are overweight. Not cool.
PETA has yet to respond to the sexist accusations. But PETA might very well point out that it is an equal opportunity offender, making fun of fat men as well. Here's part of PETA's blog on the billboard campaign:
What does the Sunshine State's endless summer mean for PETA? Our phone lines ring off the hook with reports of "beached whale sightings."
That link will take you to a photo of an extremely overweight man.
Fox News took on the issue as well. Watch here:
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I think you all went overboard.On this billboard.And you talk about health you no not care about any ones health.The only thing you care about are Animals!
That depends on their " diet ". Just going "meatless" doesn't necessarily mean healthier or thinner. I know plenty of vegetarians that still have way too much fat in their diets; bad cholesteral anyone?
And Mike, I don't remember the add , but all I can say is EEEUUUUWWWWW....... (and here I go, being bad: tell me it was a guy in a comma and not a cucumber)
but lighter doesn't necessarily mean healthier: a 140 lb man who stands over 6' tall probably isn't healthy. There are many men who weigh more than 250 and are healthier than others of similar height who weigh 10-20 lbs less.
I wouldn't say sexist but it's obviously targeting those overweight. And obesity isn't always because a person eats to much sometimes it's a health issue. So I think it's unfair to target those overweight like that.
Come on people, if PETA has put a picture of a fat man on the billboard, they would be sexist against men. They just so happened to put a woman. Stop being so sensitive! I've been a vegetarian for 17 years, and so has my brother; despite not eating animals , my brother has ALWAYS
despite my brother being vegetarian , he's always had a very large belly that actually causes him back pain now. However, all of the other vegetarians/ vegans that I know are very healthy and slim.
if they showed a fat man instead of a woman? Seems the only way to make it not sexist is to show a fat man and a fat woman.
My question is, after all the stupid crap this organization's put out (I'd argue that the "sea kittens" campaign was the most idiotic) how can anyone take them seriously at all? Why do they even get press anymore. You know everything they do is trying to be as offensive and idiotic as possible to get attention. Giving them press is like giving candy to a screaming child. Just reinforces bad behavior.
You ask why PETA gets all this press. Look at all the idiotic stories that get reported on this site. Obama is the Antichrist? Get real, the media is out to lunch.
They will play what you watch. If you switch the channel every time they play something this stupid. They'll stop playing it. Fools will always agree with the first thing they hear about a topic. Don't worry about them they will eventually weed themselves out of society .
Fox, CNN, MSNBC, it's all the same. If you don't have one of those boxes changing the channel doesn't help. Opposing Views at least gives us a way to talk back to the media but I am not sure there listening.
TV in general has gone down hill. My idea is to pick a week, maybe during sweeps, and boycott all name brand products. If we stop buying their products maybe they will get the message.
Has been taken over by the Vegan Fascists who want to impose their moral values on the rest of us. To PETA , the more you push the Vegan diet the more meat I will eat so F*** YOU PETA.
I'm not Vegan, and I'm not associated with PETA in any way....but I am vegetarian for health reasons and your eating more meat will only hurt yourself (and the animals , of course.) Geesh how old are you, 7?
"Neener neener neener, you tell me I shouldn't, I will do it more"
Regardless of what PETA would have you believe, Humans evolved biased towards an Omnivorous diet . This means we can (and mostly do) eat both plants and animals .
It's all about balance... Eating only meat is just as bad for most people as eating only vegetables.
I am fortunate that I have a genetic makeup that allows me to eat meat without any harmful effects to my health but even if It was harmful it's nobody's business what I eat. I have eaten meat my whole life but as part of an overall healthy diet . I will continue to do so. I am also a Libertarian and having other people trying to force their own opinions and moral values on me goes against everything I believe. PETA has an agenda and that is to impose government regulations that will restrict or eliminate meat from our diets. To believe otherwise is naive. With more and more regulations being imposed on our everyday lives all the time can "1984" be far behind. I suggest you read or reread that novel because it warned about all that's happening today. Our whole society is filled with people who believe that their way of living is the only way of living be they Religions, Vegans, Anti Abortion, Pro Abortion, Etc, Etc, Etc. That's fine as long as they keep it too themselves but a significant proportion of these fanatics can't leave it at that. They won't be happy until everyone agrees with them or are forced to comply with their way of thinking. I am vehemently opposed to this way of thinking. Tired of Govt control, Vote Libertarian.
"Our whole society is filled with people who believe that their way of living is the only way of living be they Religions, Vegans, Anti Abortion, Pro Abortion, Etc, Etc, Etc. That's fine as long as they keep it too themselves but a significant proportion of these fanatics can't leave it at that. They won't be happy until everyone agrees with them or are forced to comply with their way of thinking."
So I suppose that the "fanatics" who reprehended and set out to abolish human slavery should have just "kept it to themselves"and allowed the slave owners to continue their ways? A slave owner felt equally as justified to own slaves as you feel to consume the flesh and by-products of animals because blacks were truly believed to be inferior to whites,just as nonhumans are believed to be inferior to humans. Human slavery was seen as the norm- the natural order of things. Abolitionists were once the minority, but they're voices were heard and slavery was eventually outlawed.
If we never questioned what we do (or did) as being morally right or wrong and failed to fight for what we believe is important then we would never have any sort of social change . EVER. The institution of slavery would still exist, women would still be seen a second class citizens... and you can forget about being opening gay! So go ahead... you can sit back and allow horrible injustices to happen while the rest of us actually fight for what we believe in.
It is obvious (and not surprising) that the true concept of veganism doesnt ring clear to you... and many many other people. This isn't your fault, of course. The mainstream animal rights movement has done a very poor job of educating people about what it means to be vegan, as this silly PETA ad illustrates. Let me clarify the meaning:
Veganism is not merely a matter of someone's ethical choice to not consume animal products- it's a commitment to living a non-violent life. It's the embodiment of compassion and understanding. Veganism, in specific, focuses on our use and treatment of animals, but it serves as an "umbrella" term that extends to our treatment of humans as well. In other words, a vegan is by default a human rights advocate. How can somebody who understands why the exploitation of animals is wrong fail to see that the exploitation of humans is wrong? A vegan makes the connection between both sides, understanding that the way we treat each other is a reflection of the way we treat animals, and visa versa. This is why human rights and animal rights are perfect together- as ONE movement.
Someone can either choose to live a non-violent vegan lifestyle or they can choose violence. It is clear that no matter how we raise animals for food , clothing or entertainment that suffering is involved at the expense of our "benefit"- don't fool yourself, ALL animal use involves suffering if not directly then indirectly. If you do your research you will see this clearly.
No matter how you put it, exploiting animals for our own ends CANNOT be plausibly justified, when we regard animals as sentient creatures who have an interest in continuing to live their lives and an interest in not experiencing pain or suffering. All of these interests are infringed upon when we commodify them like we do.
To sum it up: exploitation is oppression, oppression is violence and violence it wrong. Its just that easy!
Being vegan is not a matter of believing in some ultimate Creator or trying to understand what our destiny is. Veganism is not religion - its not a matter of opinion- its a matter of basic decency... because we are HERE and we are NOW and we're trying to make the best of it. So in response to when you said:
"Our whole society is filled with people who believe that their way of living is the only way of living..."
Yes, in regards to veganism, this is completely true. I DO see a non-violent compassionate life founded on empathy and understanding as being the only way to live. Don't you? I sure hope so.
I do not see Veganism as a necessary path to that goal. I have no problem with Killing animals as long as it's done in as humane a way as possible. Killing for food is natural. Suffering is part of life and is unavoidable. Dying of natural causes can be one of the most horrible ways to die ( cancer ?). Once again you and I have basic moral differences. No matter how you phrase it your morality is a personal choice and no better or worse than mine. What I do find morally reprehensible is Vegans who believe that everybody should live like they do and be forced to do so through legal or other means.
Killing for food may very well be natural but what's natural isn't always what's right. There were once many things that we humans thought to be natural but that are no longer morally acceptable.
Furthermore, yes, I agree that suffering is a part of life BUT there is a very big difference between the suffering that is a result of killing for food as a means of survival and that which is a result of the systematic methods we use for breeding, confining, torturing and slaughtering animals today. (especially when our consumption of them is not necessary but merely a desire).
You say that you have no problem with killing animals for food so long as its done "humanely", but more than 95% of "food animals" in North America are raised on factory farms. I don't know you personally and I have no idea where you shop for food but I am willing to guess that a large portion of the animal products in your fridge or cupboard were not made from animals who were raised "humanely".
The problem here is that we may disagree on what the exact definition of "humane" is. It's clear that consuming animal products is not at all necessary to obtain optimal health (and this isn't a matter thats up for debate- its fact). I, personally don't see unnecessary killing of any sort to be humane, regardless of how its done.
Also, take dairying or example. Regardless of how somebody runs their dairy facility, female cows HAVE TO BE impregnated every year in order to produce milk. About 24 hours after giving birth the mother and her calf are separated. Cows are extremely social creatures (i know this from personal experience) and the immediate bond that exists between a mother and her calf is immensely strong and unique. This early separation is emotionally damaging for both sides and is an event that the mother will have to relive again and again, until she is "spent" and trucked off to slaughter. You call this "natural"? You call this "humane"? The ONLY reason we continue to consume this inherently cruel product is because we enjoy the taste.
We are all taught the importance of empathy towards other humans but never towards other species. Its a very very powerful thing when somebody can step outside of themselves for one minute and try and understand what its like to be an animal that is being exploited for food, clothing, etc... an animal who has been brought into this world to serve as a commodity- a piece of property- a mere thing, only to eventually have a knife to the throat. Anybody who has this amount of empathy towards animals is very likely to have the same towards other humans. But just because someone is understanding of other humans, in no way does it mean that they are understanding to other living species. This is the connection between human rights and animal rights that I am talking about and that I always advocate for. Speciesism is just another form of oppression- just like racism , sexism and heterosexism. They are all fundamentally connected.
Once again, you tell me that my morality is a "personal choice" and that its "no better or worse" than yours... and I continue to ask you: Was a slave owner's morality no better or worse than someone who opposed human slavery? ... because the institution of slavery used all of the same justifications we make for exploiting animals, today.
You and many many other people say that killing and using animals is not wrong so long as its done in the most humane possible way... but isn't the most humane possible way not killing or using them at all? How can you claim to be respectful of animals when your trivial DESIRE to consume these products trumps an animal's most basic interest in continued life? If you truly cared about how the animals we exploit are treated then wouldn't you not be eating any animal products at all?
I love how you go on and on expressing your own opinions. No matter how you phrase it they are your opinions not mine. That's fine. You are free to think how you like as long as you don't try to force me to go along. If you do try to force me through legislative or other means then we are enemies. My discussion with you has ended.
The claim that going veggie makes you slim is just not true. Because I have been on the high protein/moderate fat Atkins diet for 30 years, and I am 5'4, 120 pounds for years. Also, my cholesteral is exactly right.
Nobody is going to tell me that an Atkins diet is healthy when it produces KETONES in your urine, which is an abnormal lab; an almost all protein diet is very very very hard on your kidneys and LIVER which must convert fat and protein to carbohydrates-carbohydrates is the most essential energy unit in the body and the brain cannot live without glucose. Red meat has been linked to colon and bladder cancers as well. I've known people on Atkins and it makes their skin look leathery. They just DO NOT look healthy. Just about everybody I've known who was on Atkins eventually got their weight back plus more because it does not teach how to modify their eating habits. I've been vegan for many years and my labs are exactly perfect, my cholesterol is 119, and I'm 5'7-1/2" weighing 140 lbs for years and years. And I do not take any kind of meat, eggs or milk and my labs are fabulous. I'm 49 years old and people think I'm still in my 30's!!! I LOOK YOUNG!! That's because a vegan diet is great for your skin.
I am 62; I have the face and body of a 35 year old. No leather on my face, plenty leather on my clothes. The ketone thing is only for the first 3 days, and it is unneccessary anyway. I HAVE modified my eating habits for years; I eat plenty of protein, moderate fat (which is why I am practically wrinkle-free), and gobs of low carb veggies. I have experimented with a vegan diet , macrobiotc diet, low cal diet. I'm happy eating the way I do, and it works for me. My "good" cholestrol is 117, total is 176. My doctor was stunned when I told her I do Atkins. So you eat your way, and I'll eat mine. Peace.
Absolutely not! Take a good hard look at the doctors AND nurses in our hospitals who are fat and/or obese! Fat is fat no matter who you are. Americans should be ashamed - we are the fattest people in the world.
I am vegan and I am anti- PETA . They're tactics are tactless. Besides being insulting, even the message of "loose weight , be healthy: go veggie" is missing the real points. First off, a junk foodvegetarian is far from being healthy and many omnivores can lead 'healthy' lives, and guess what vegetarians: milk consumption is link with heart disease, diabetes , asthma, cancer , strokes, high blood pressure. Second, the important message should be vegan education : the needless violence perpetrated against innocent sentient lives, the fact that the animal agriculture industry is one of the most serious environmental problems
Regarding the "needless violence perpetrated against innocent sentient lives," did you ever wonder how many animals per acre get destroyed to produce a few dozen bushels of soybeans. Nobody really knows. On the other hand, we do know how many animals per acre of pasture land are killed to produce a beef carcass. One. And how many acres of pasture land contribute high-nutrient runoff of the sort that creates Dead Zones like the one in the Gulf of Mexico? When you think about it, when food is produced for humans, critters of one sort or another have to die. It's unavoidable. But pasturing animals is far less destructive of animal life and damaging to the environment than cultivating crops.
Every pound of beef uses 16lbs of wheat/soy/grains, 2500gal of water , the grains used on soley USA livestock could feed 800million people (David Pimentel, Cornell Univ). The cropland is pushed hard to produce an extraordinary amount of grain FOR the animal industry even with grazing. Sustainable farming is no longer possible, livestock now outnumber people 3:1. (J.Mayer, Harvard) and the results are disastrous: United Nation's Food & Agriculture Organization cites animal agriculture as the worlds #1 water polluter and now uses 70% of amazon forestland, according to scientists at the Smithsonian Institute, the equivalent of seven football fields of land is bulldozed every minute, much of it to create more room for farmed animals . Philip Fradkin, of the National Audubon Society, states, "The impact of countless hooves and mouths over the years has done more to alter the type of vegetation and land forms of the West than all the water projects, strip mines, power plants, freeways, and subdivision developments combined."
Ads are based in drawing attention. This ad is somewhat offensive but 6 out of 10 people are fat in America, so if they happen to get mad but perhaps do something about it, it's a good thing. Sometimes your world has to get rocked for you to overcome a stupid habit. I saw the dietitian in the FOX News clip above saying that any controlled-calorie diet , even if it includes meat , can make you loose weight . But the fact of the matter is that populations that eat more meat are more obese. And vegetarians happen to weight less overall.
One out of four Americans are morbidly obese - people want to pass a universal health care but I don't see how that's possible with the majority of people abusing their bodies. OVERALL vegetarians tend to be thinner. Now I'm vegan because milk and eggs grosses me out. But our fast food nation - the devotees of McCruelty and KFC-is what I call trailer trash food and our greasy slothful nation has created a health care crisis. I am AGAINST a single payer plan due to so many people who abuse their bodies. They should have included a fat man too. And yes fat people DO find it offensive simply because THE TRUTH HURTS.
I'm going to send an idea for PETA called GOT MRSA? About 40% of raw meat (pork and chicken) is infected with MRSA and VRE -flesh eating bacteria due to antibiotic abuse in farm factories, given at a daily basis, as a growth stimulant and to keep the animals alive in pure filth (they live in their own urine and feces-literally), in small confined areas crammed like sardines, and the air literally burns their lungs with the high ammonia smell from the feces and urine. All animals have staph on their skin; combined with antibiotic abuse it becomes MRSA. If you so much as TOUCH raw meat in its preparation you CAN get MRSA or VRE from a microcrack on your skin or you rub your nose. Did you know it's legal to feed cattle chicken maneur as feed? It's true. Google it. Did you know chicken farmers ROUTINELY put ARSENIC in their chicken feed. Even in "organic grown" chicken, this arsenic is legal because aresenic poison occurs naturally in nature. Google it-chicken feed and arsenic. What makes the meat pinkish? Arsenic poisoning. Arsenic does not leave the body easy and accumulates and YOU eat it! In fact, chicken manure commonly has arsenic and antibiotic resistant infective bacteria in it. It is also legal to gas red meat with CARBON MONOXIDE-which is car exhaust fumes-it keeps the meat looking red and fresh-even after years. You tell me if all of this is safe. 100% of all fish test positive for MERCURY, and 25% of that is "unsafe levels"-which can mean LETHAL level. Mercury too accumulates in the body and is associated with brain damage and cancers. Enjoy your meat!
Sexist I doubt, the next billboard will (I hope)show an obese male.
Obesity is completely non-partisan. It just causes pain and misery to every obese person, just ask any chiropractor. Arthritic knees, pain in the feet and backache, a walker, and the wheelchair long before your time. That's if you don't have a stroke or a heart attack.
I now take a tough uncompromising stand - and lose about 80% of my obese patients. Too bad. But the other 20% are eternally grateful when they begin to see the benefits.
Vegetarianism is indeed one way. Perhaps even better is just to incorporate far more salad and veg into your omnivorous diet .
Just look at Chiropractic-Help.com and you'll see how we've helped many, many people lose weight and be healthier and happier. There you will find our free weight loss diet. Nothing to lose.
I can't help but shake my head in utter disillusionment to this ad.
Way to go PETA ... you, yet AGAIN have given all of us hard working animal rights activists a bad name, while failing to create any change with your silly, amateurish, sexist ads , that do nothing to educate people about animal rights but rather alienate the public. You truly are one of a kind.
It boggles my mind that an animal rights organization, like PETA, who supposedly takes the position that speciesism is no different from other forms of discrimination, manages to have the ignorance to use those other forms of discrimination in attempt to get their point across. How can anyone profess that animals ought not to be exploited by creating sexist ads that exploit women? WTF? This is basically the equivalent to running an ad that features a puppy wearing a t-shirt that says "Stop Exploiting Animals"
Like most of PETA's foolishness, this ad does absolutely nothing to get people thinking about our moral obligations to animals. It speaks nothing about animal rights but rather tells people they can lose weight and look better by not eating meat . Veganism should never be about someone's self-seeking, egocentric desire to lose a few pounds. Robert Bowen (aka.The Angry Hippie) better describes this as "bullsh*tatarianism". If the animal rights movement is going to make it ANYWHERE, it HAS to be founded on moral and ethical principles.
Also, once again PETA has failed the AR movement by promoting vegetarianism , rather than veganism- the baseline to animal rights. Vegetarianism is a very problematic moral stance for anyone to take because it completely disregards the production of eggs and dairy (which involve every bit as much suffering, if not more, than meat ). Vegetarianism is heavily contradictive of itself and should never take the forefront of the AR message, like it has been for the past 30 years, thanks to PETA, the supposed "leader" of the AR movement.
I am an animal rights activist and I am VEGAN; I reprehend the exploitation of animals. I am a human rights advocate and I am VEGAN; I reprehend the exploitation of humans. Get the connection?
I am all of these things and I reprehend the nonsense of PETA. If you are not an animal rights advocate, please do not assume that all those who are, support foolish, asinine, outright idiotic ads like this... because some of us are decent people.
For those of you who DO support this ad, either grow some common sense or find another social cause to butcher, like you have this one.
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Sexist?
PETA has always been sexist. Remember the add with the model making love to vegetables?!
- mike1948
August 19, 2009 3:09PM
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OK PETA
I think you all went overboard.On this billboard.And you talk about health you no not care about any ones health.The only thing you care about are Animals!
- countryboy
August 19, 2009 6:47PM
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my understanding is that
PETA doesn't even care about animals .
- JKM121
August 28, 2009 3:49AM
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Your understanding
Fill me into your understanding about PETA not caring about animals .
- countryboy
August 30, 2009 3:10PM
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Vegetarians thinner?
That depends on their " diet ". Just going "meatless" doesn't necessarily mean healthier or thinner. I know plenty of vegetarians that still have way too much fat in their diets; bad cholesteral anyone?
And Mike, I don't remember the add , but all I can say is EEEUUUUWWWWW.......
(and here I go, being bad: tell me it was a guy in a comma and not a cucumber)
- JBarnett
August 19, 2009 7:10PM
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Not only that ...
but lighter doesn't necessarily mean healthier: a 140 lb man who stands over 6' tall probably isn't healthy. There are many men who weigh more than 250 and are healthier than others of similar height who weigh 10-20 lbs less.
- JKM121
August 28, 2009 3:52AM
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Healthy?
Studies have shown that an active fat person is healthier then a non-active thin one.
- mike1948
August 28, 2009 9:29AM
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I wouldn't
I wouldn't say sexist but it's obviously targeting those overweight. And obesity isn't always because a person eats to much sometimes it's a health issue. So I think it's unfair to target those overweight like that.
- Dylandts
August 19, 2009 8:51PM
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Sooo not sexist!
Come on people, if PETA has put a picture of a fat man on the billboard, they would be sexist against men. They just so happened to put a woman. Stop being so sensitive!
I've been a vegetarian for 17 years, and so has my brother; despite not eating animals , my brother has ALWAYS
- piggyfairy
August 26, 2009 11:28AM
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continued from sooo not sexist
despite my brother being vegetarian , he's always had a very large belly that actually causes him back pain now.
However, all of the other vegetarians/ vegans that I know are very healthy and slim.
- piggyfairy
August 26, 2009 11:30AM
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Would it be sexist
if they showed a fat man instead of a woman? Seems the only way to make it not sexist is to show a fat man and a fat woman.
My question is, after all the stupid crap this organization's put out (I'd argue that the "sea kittens" campaign was the most idiotic) how can anyone take them seriously at all? Why do they even get press anymore. You know everything they do is trying to be as offensive and idiotic as possible to get attention. Giving them press is like giving candy to a screaming child. Just reinforces bad behavior.
- State of Reason
August 26, 2009 11:41AM
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Look at the media.
You ask why PETA gets all this press. Look at all the idiotic stories that get reported on this site. Obama is the Antichrist? Get real, the media is out to lunch.
- mike1948
August 27, 2009 12:02AM
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Ratings
They will play what you watch. If you switch the channel every time they play something this stupid. They'll stop playing it.
Fools will always agree with the first thing they hear about a topic. Don't worry about them they will eventually weed themselves out of society .
- ttut21
August 27, 2009 1:38AM
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Changing the channel.
Fox, CNN, MSNBC, it's all the same. If you don't have one of those boxes changing the channel doesn't help. Opposing Views at least gives us a way to talk back to the media but I am not sure there listening.
- mike1948
August 27, 2009 8:32AM
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right
They don't the only thing that works is if we were to form a rally on here. Like the people that we talk about on here.
- ttut21
August 28, 2009 2:00AM
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Boycott.
TV in general has gone down hill. My idea is to pick a week, maybe during sweeps, and boycott all name brand products. If we stop buying their products maybe they will get the message.
- mike1948
August 28, 2009 8:31AM
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How?
could work, but how? We can't spread the message to a wide enough audience.
- ttut21
September 2, 2009 1:18AM
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PETA
Has been taken over by the Vegan Fascists who want to impose their moral values on the rest of us. To PETA , the more you push the Vegan diet the more meat I will eat so F*** YOU PETA.
- tbcass
August 26, 2009 11:55AM
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Go right ahead
I'm not Vegan, and I'm not associated with PETA in any way....but I am vegetarian for health reasons and your eating more meat will only hurt yourself (and the animals , of course.)
Geesh how old are you, 7?
"Neener neener neener, you tell me I shouldn't, I will do it more"
tbcass, do you go to my sons elementary school?
- piggyfairy
August 26, 2009 12:15PM
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Nothing Wrong...
With eating the occasional nice juicy hamburger.
Regardless of what PETA would have you believe, Humans evolved biased towards an Omnivorous diet . This means we can (and mostly do) eat both plants and animals .
It's all about balance... Eating only meat is just as bad for most people as eating only vegetables.
- Concerned Citizen
August 27, 2009 6:46AM
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I'm 64 and very healthy
I am fortunate that I have a genetic makeup that allows me to eat meat without any harmful effects to my health but even if It was harmful it's nobody's business what I eat. I have eaten meat my whole life but as part of an overall healthy diet . I will continue to do so. I am also a Libertarian and having other people trying to force their own opinions and moral values on me goes against everything I believe. PETA has an agenda and that is to impose government regulations that will restrict or eliminate meat from our diets. To believe otherwise is naive. With more and more regulations being imposed on our everyday lives all the time can "1984" be far behind. I suggest you read or reread that novel because it warned about all that's happening today. Our whole society is filled with people who believe that their way of living is the only way of living be they Religions, Vegans, Anti Abortion, Pro Abortion, Etc, Etc, Etc. That's fine as long as they keep it too themselves but a significant proportion of these fanatics can't leave it at that. They won't be happy until everyone agrees with them or are forced to comply with their way of thinking. I am vehemently opposed to this way of thinking. Tired of Govt control, Vote Libertarian.
- tbcass
August 27, 2009 7:07AM
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You don't understand what "vegan" is.
"Our whole society is filled with people who believe that their way of living is the only way of living be they Religions, Vegans, Anti Abortion, Pro Abortion, Etc, Etc, Etc. That's fine as long as they keep it too themselves but a significant proportion of these fanatics can't leave it at that. They won't be happy until everyone agrees with them or are forced to comply with their way of thinking."
So I suppose that the "fanatics" who reprehended and set out to abolish human slavery should have just "kept it to themselves"and allowed the slave owners to continue their ways? A slave owner felt equally as justified to own slaves as you feel to consume the flesh and by-products of animals because blacks were truly believed to be inferior to whites,just as nonhumans are believed to be inferior to humans. Human slavery was seen as the norm- the natural order of things. Abolitionists were once the minority, but they're voices were heard and slavery was eventually outlawed.
If we never questioned what we do (or did) as being morally right or wrong and failed to fight for what we believe is important then we would never have any sort of social change . EVER. The institution of slavery would still exist, women would still be seen a second class citizens... and you can forget about being opening gay! So go ahead... you can sit back and allow horrible injustices to happen while the rest of us actually fight for what we believe in.
It is obvious (and not surprising) that the true concept of veganism doesnt ring clear to you... and many many other people. This isn't your fault, of course. The mainstream animal rights movement has done a very poor job of educating people about what it means to be vegan, as this silly PETA ad illustrates. Let me clarify the meaning:
Veganism is not merely a matter of someone's ethical choice to not consume animal products- it's a commitment to living a non-violent life. It's the embodiment of compassion and understanding. Veganism, in specific, focuses on our use and treatment of animals, but it serves as an "umbrella" term that extends to our treatment of humans as well. In other words, a vegan is by default a human rights advocate. How can somebody who understands why the exploitation of animals is wrong fail to see that the exploitation of humans is wrong? A vegan makes the connection between both sides, understanding that the way we treat each other is a reflection of the way we treat animals, and visa versa. This is why human rights and animal rights are perfect together- as ONE movement.
Someone can either choose to live a non-violent vegan lifestyle or they can choose violence. It is clear that no matter how we raise animals for food , clothing or entertainment that suffering is involved at the expense of our "benefit"- don't fool yourself, ALL animal use involves suffering if not directly then indirectly. If you do your research you will see this clearly.
No matter how you put it, exploiting animals for our own ends CANNOT be plausibly justified, when we regard animals as sentient creatures who have an interest in continuing to live their lives and an interest in not experiencing pain or suffering. All of these interests are infringed upon when we commodify them like we do.
To sum it up: exploitation is oppression, oppression is violence and violence it wrong. Its just that easy!
Being vegan is not a matter of believing in some ultimate Creator or trying to understand what our destiny is. Veganism is not religion - its not a matter of opinion- its a matter of basic decency... because we are HERE and we are NOW and we're trying to make the best of it. So in response to when you said:
"Our whole society is filled with people who believe that their way of living is the only way of living..."
Yes, in regards to veganism, this is completely true. I DO see a non-violent compassionate life founded on empathy and understanding as being the only way to live. Don't you? I sure hope so.
- Gronlandic Edit
August 30, 2009 3:05AM
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But
I do not see Veganism as a necessary path to that goal. I have no problem with Killing animals as long as it's done in as humane a way as possible. Killing for food is natural. Suffering is part of life and is unavoidable. Dying of natural causes can be one of the most horrible ways to die ( cancer ?). Once again you and I have basic moral differences. No matter how you phrase it your morality is a personal choice and no better or worse than mine. What I do find morally reprehensible is Vegans who believe that everybody should live like they do and be forced to do so through legal or other means.
- tbcass
August 31, 2009 5:53AM
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What is "humane"?
Killing for food may very well be natural but what's natural isn't always what's right. There were once many things that we humans thought to be natural but that are no longer morally acceptable.
Furthermore, yes, I agree that suffering is a part of life BUT there is a very big difference between the suffering that is a result of killing for food as a means of survival and that which is a result of the systematic methods we use for breeding, confining, torturing and slaughtering animals today. (especially when our consumption of them is not necessary but merely a desire).
You say that you have no problem with killing animals for food so long as its done "humanely", but more than 95% of "food animals" in North America are raised on factory farms. I don't know you personally and I have no idea where you shop for food but I am willing to guess that a large portion of the animal products in your fridge or cupboard were not made from animals who were raised "humanely".
The problem here is that we may disagree on what the exact definition of "humane" is. It's clear that consuming animal products is not at all necessary to obtain optimal health (and this isn't a matter thats up for debate- its fact). I, personally don't see unnecessary killing of any sort to be humane, regardless of how its done.
Also, take dairying or example. Regardless of how somebody runs their dairy facility, female cows HAVE TO BE impregnated every year in order to produce milk. About 24 hours after giving birth the mother and her calf are separated. Cows are extremely social creatures (i know this from personal experience) and the immediate bond that exists between a mother and her calf is immensely strong and unique. This early separation is emotionally damaging for both sides and is an event that the mother will have to relive again and again, until she is "spent" and trucked off to slaughter. You call this "natural"? You call this "humane"? The ONLY reason we continue to consume this inherently cruel product is because we enjoy the taste.
We are all taught the importance of empathy towards other humans but never towards other species. Its a very very powerful thing when somebody can step outside of themselves for one minute and try and understand what its like to be an animal that is being exploited for food, clothing, etc... an animal who has been brought into this world to serve as a commodity- a piece of property- a mere thing, only to eventually have a knife to the throat. Anybody who has this amount of empathy towards animals is very likely to have the same towards other humans. But just because someone is understanding of other humans, in no way does it mean that they are understanding to other living species. This is the connection between human rights and animal rights that I am talking about and that I always advocate for. Speciesism is just another form of oppression- just like racism , sexism and heterosexism. They are all fundamentally connected.
Once again, you tell me that my morality is a "personal choice" and that its "no better or worse" than yours... and I continue to ask you: Was a slave owner's morality no better or worse than someone who opposed human slavery? ... because the institution of slavery used all of the same justifications we make for exploiting animals, today.
You and many many other people say that killing and using animals is not wrong so long as its done in the most humane possible way... but isn't the most humane possible way not killing or using them at all? How can you claim to be respectful of animals when your trivial DESIRE to consume these products trumps an animal's most basic interest in continued life? If you truly cared about how the animals we exploit are treated then wouldn't you not be eating any animal products at all?
- Gronlandic Edit
September 9, 2009 9:18PM
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Your opinions
I love how you go on and on expressing your own opinions. No matter how you phrase it they are your opinions not mine. That's fine. You are free to think how you like as long as you don't try to force me to go along. If you do try to force me through legislative or other means then we are enemies. My discussion with you has ended.
- tbcass
September 10, 2009 5:20AM
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But PETA is tacky & offensive!
Why would anyone expect an ad that wasn't tacky and offensive, coming as it does from an organization that is tacky and offensive?
- fsilber
August 26, 2009 12:00PM
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Atkins Rules
The claim that going veggie makes you slim is just not true. Because I have been on the high protein/moderate fat Atkins diet for 30 years, and I am 5'4, 120 pounds for years. Also, my cholesteral is exactly right.
- Helenrose234
August 26, 2009 12:28PM
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atkins is crap
Nobody is going to tell me that an Atkins diet is healthy when it produces KETONES in your urine, which is an abnormal lab; an almost all protein diet is very very very hard on your kidneys and LIVER which must convert fat and protein to carbohydrates-carbohydrates is the most essential energy unit in the body and the brain cannot live without glucose. Red meat has been linked to colon and bladder cancers as well. I've known people on Atkins and it makes their skin look leathery. They just DO NOT look healthy. Just about everybody I've known who was on Atkins eventually got their weight back plus more because it does not teach how to modify their eating habits. I've been vegan for many years and my labs are exactly perfect, my cholesterol is 119, and I'm 5'7-1/2" weighing 140 lbs for years and years. And I do not take any kind of meat, eggs or milk and my labs are fabulous. I'm 49 years old and people think I'm still in my 30's!!! I LOOK YOUNG!! That's because a vegan diet is great for your skin.
- cetude
August 26, 2009 8:24PM
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Atkins Still Rules
I am 62; I have the face and body of a 35 year old. No leather on my face, plenty leather on my clothes.
The ketone thing is only for the first 3 days, and it is unneccessary anyway. I HAVE modified my eating habits for years; I eat plenty of protein, moderate fat (which is why I am practically wrinkle-free), and gobs of low carb veggies. I have experimented with a vegan diet , macrobiotc diet, low cal diet. I'm happy eating the way I do, and it works for me. My "good" cholestrol is 117, total is 176. My doctor was stunned when I told her I do Atkins.
So you eat your way, and I'll eat mine. Peace.
- Helenrose234
August 26, 2009 9:16PM
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Is New PETA Campaign Featuring Overweight Woman Sexist?
Absolutely not! Take a good hard look at the doctors AND nurses in our hospitals who are fat and/or obese! Fat is fat no matter who you are. Americans should be ashamed - we are the fattest people in the world.
I am not alone - I need to lose at least 25 lbs.
- SSCADO
August 26, 2009 1:13PM
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peta's poor taste
I am vegan and I am anti- PETA . They're tactics are tactless. Besides being insulting, even the message of "loose weight , be healthy: go veggie" is missing the real points. First off, a junk food vegetarian is far from being healthy and many omnivores can lead 'healthy' lives, and guess what vegetarians: milk consumption is link with heart disease, diabetes , asthma, cancer , strokes, high blood pressure. Second, the important message should be vegan education : the needless violence perpetrated against innocent sentient lives, the fact that the animal agriculture industry is one of the most serious environmental problems
- progressisdead
August 26, 2009 3:49PM
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needless violence against animals
Regarding the "needless violence perpetrated against innocent sentient lives," did you ever wonder how many animals per acre get destroyed to produce a few dozen bushels of soybeans. Nobody really knows. On the other hand, we do know how many animals per acre of pasture land are killed to produce a beef carcass. One. And how many acres of pasture land contribute high-nutrient runoff of the sort that creates Dead Zones like the one in the Gulf of Mexico? When you think about it, when food is produced for humans, critters of one sort or another have to die. It's unavoidable. But pasturing animals is far less destructive of animal life and damaging to the environment than cultivating crops.
- David Brown
August 27, 2009 12:10AM
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environment
Every pound of beef uses 16lbs of wheat/soy/grains, 2500gal of water , the grains used on soley USA livestock could feed 800million people (David Pimentel, Cornell Univ). The cropland is pushed hard to produce an extraordinary amount of grain FOR the animal industry even with grazing.
Sustainable farming is no longer possible, livestock now outnumber people 3:1. (J.Mayer, Harvard) and the results are disastrous: United Nation's Food & Agriculture Organization cites animal agriculture as the worlds #1 water polluter and now uses 70% of amazon forestland, according to scientists at the Smithsonian Institute, the equivalent of seven football fields of land is bulldozed every minute, much of it to create more room for farmed animals .
Philip Fradkin, of the National Audubon Society, states, "The impact of countless hooves and mouths over the years has done more to alter the type of vegetation and land forms of the West than all the water projects, strip mines, power plants, freeways, and subdivision developments combined."
- progressisdead
August 27, 2009 5:20PM
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Vegetarians are thinner overall.
Ads are based in drawing attention. This ad is somewhat offensive but 6 out of 10 people are fat in America, so if they happen to get mad but perhaps do something about it, it's a good thing. Sometimes your world has to get rocked for you to overcome a stupid habit.
I saw the dietitian in the FOX News clip above saying that any controlled-calorie diet , even if it includes meat , can make you loose weight . But the fact of the matter is that populations that eat more meat are more obese. And vegetarians happen to weight less overall.
- mgalli
August 26, 2009 4:33PM
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Obesity a serious problem
One out of four Americans are morbidly obese - people want to pass a universal health care but I don't see how that's possible with the majority of people abusing their bodies. OVERALL vegetarians tend to be thinner. Now I'm vegan because milk and eggs grosses me out. But our fast food nation - the devotees of McCruelty and KFC-is what I call trailer trash food and our greasy slothful nation has created a health care crisis. I am AGAINST a single payer plan due to so many people who abuse their bodies. They should have included a fat man too. And yes fat people DO find it offensive simply because THE TRUTH HURTS.
- cetude
August 26, 2009 8:03PM
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Got MRSA?
I'm going to send an idea for PETA called GOT MRSA? About 40% of raw meat (pork and chicken) is infected with MRSA and VRE -flesh eating bacteria due to antibiotic abuse in farm factories, given at a daily basis, as a growth stimulant and to keep the animals alive in pure filth (they live in their own urine and feces-literally), in small confined areas crammed like sardines, and the air literally burns their lungs with the high ammonia smell from the feces and urine. All animals have staph on their skin; combined with antibiotic abuse it becomes MRSA. If you so much as TOUCH raw meat in its preparation you CAN get MRSA or VRE from a microcrack on your skin or you rub your nose. Did you know it's legal to feed cattle chicken maneur as feed? It's true. Google it. Did you know chicken farmers ROUTINELY put ARSENIC in their chicken feed. Even in "organic grown" chicken, this arsenic is legal because aresenic poison occurs naturally in nature. Google it-chicken feed and arsenic. What makes the meat pinkish? Arsenic poisoning. Arsenic does not leave the body easy and accumulates and YOU eat it! In fact, chicken manure commonly has arsenic and antibiotic resistant infective bacteria in it. It is also legal to gas red meat with CARBON MONOXIDE-which is car exhaust fumes-it keeps the meat looking red and fresh-even after years. You tell me if all of this is safe. 100% of all fish test positive for MERCURY, and 25% of that is "unsafe levels"-which can mean LETHAL level. Mercury too accumulates in the body and is associated with brain damage and cancers. Enjoy your meat!
- cetude
August 26, 2009 8:10PM
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Dr Bernard Preston D.C.
Sexist I doubt, the next billboard will (I hope)show an obese male.
Obesity is completely non-partisan. It just causes pain and misery to every obese person, just ask any chiropractor. Arthritic knees, pain in the feet and backache, a walker, and the wheelchair long before your time. That's if you don't have a stroke or a heart attack.
I now take a tough uncompromising stand - and lose about 80% of my obese patients. Too bad. But the other 20% are eternally grateful when they begin to see the benefits.
Vegetarianism is indeed one way. Perhaps even better is just to incorporate far more salad and veg into your omnivorous diet .
Just look at Chiropractic-Help.com and you'll see how we've helped many, many people lose weight and be healthier and happier. There you will find our free weight loss diet. Nothing to lose.
- Barrie Lewis
August 28, 2009 5:42AM
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Sexist? Yes. Effective? No. Asinine & problematic? Very Much so.
I can't help but shake my head in utter disillusionment to this ad.
Way to go PETA ... you, yet AGAIN have given all of us hard working animal rights activists a bad name, while failing to create any change with your silly, amateurish, sexist ads , that do nothing to educate people about animal rights but rather alienate the public. You truly are one of a kind.
It boggles my mind that an animal rights organization, like PETA, who supposedly takes the position that speciesism is no different from other forms of discrimination, manages to have the ignorance to use those other forms of discrimination in attempt to get their point across. How can anyone profess that animals ought not to be exploited by creating sexist ads that exploit women? WTF? This is basically the equivalent to running an ad that features a puppy wearing a t-shirt that says "Stop Exploiting Animals"
Like most of PETA's foolishness, this ad does absolutely nothing to get people thinking about our moral obligations to animals. It speaks nothing about animal rights but rather tells people they can lose weight and look better by not eating meat . Veganism should never be about someone's self-seeking, egocentric desire to lose a few pounds. Robert Bowen (aka.The Angry Hippie) better describes this as "bullsh*tatarianism". If the animal rights movement is going to make it ANYWHERE, it HAS to be founded on moral and ethical principles.
Also, once again PETA has failed the AR movement by promoting vegetarianism , rather than veganism- the baseline to animal rights. Vegetarianism is a very problematic moral stance for anyone to take because it completely disregards the production of eggs and dairy (which involve every bit as much suffering, if not more, than meat ). Vegetarianism is heavily contradictive of itself and should never take the forefront of the AR message, like it has been for the past 30 years, thanks to PETA, the supposed "leader" of the AR movement.
I am an animal rights activist and I am VEGAN; I reprehend the exploitation of animals. I am a human rights advocate and I am VEGAN; I reprehend the exploitation of humans. Get the connection?
I am all of these things and I reprehend the nonsense of PETA. If you are not an animal rights advocate, please do not assume that all those who are, support foolish, asinine, outright idiotic ads like this... because some of us are decent people.
For those of you who DO support this ad, either grow some common sense or find another social cause to butcher, like you have this one.
- Gronlandic Edit
August 30, 2009 1:31AM
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