Editorial: PETA’s porn site part of the problem
PETA's new porn site the scorn of the animal rights community.
In 1990, Carol Adams wrote a ground-breaking book that detailed the use of women and animals in media, “The Sexual Politics of Meat.” The pornography and advertising industries did not fare well in her intense critique of modern society delving into issues of women’s rights and animal rights. So when the world’s “largest” animal rights organization announced in August that they would launch a new porn site to promote animal rights, many of us were rightly confused, even angry that once again PETA has gone for publicity over substance.
The organization over the years has done a lot for the animal rights community. Arguably without PETA, issues of animal abuse, cruelty, testing and the myriad other inflictions humans carry out on other beings may not have come to the forefront of culture and society.
However, in recent years, the organization has seemingly moved from their initial goal of animal rights into a publicity and marketing machine. One director in the group told me blatantly that “I don’t even like animals.”
It is easy to criticize the group for its meandering into marketing campaigns that aim to deliver the latest vegan star in an ad. Public opinion experts have repeatedly pointed out that the use of celebrities is great for having money flow into the coffers, but does little to change public perceptions and provokes little change. This was seen in the dozens of Hollywood stars who joined forces with Don Cheadle and George Clooney to raise awareness of the situation in Darfur. The public still cares little about the suffering of millions in Sudan. The same can be said of PETA’s massive marketing campaigns: it targets a group of people who a. already are animal rights supporters and are likely to enjoy seeing a famous person on an ad; and b. fans of the celebrity will see their favorite star and keep on clicking to see the image or video over and over again.
“It is a great marketing plan to get celebrities to donate money and get people to visit the website, but the reality is that we have yet to see any real evidence that celebrity campaigns do more than create a buzz,” said one former Gallup pollster, who asked that his identity not be revealed as he remains on the company’s payroll. “The truth is campaigns that reveal the hard truth without celebrities, using facts and information to support the cause are much better at changing the minds of people who matter.
“We live in a society that is beginning to care about animals, but when you use nudity or other issues to try and get people behind a cause, the support goes out the window unless done in a professional manner that doesn’t hit at people’s buttons,” he said.
Back to the point at hand. PETA obviously believes that by donning an .xxx domain it will enable them to attract new viewers and potential animal rights supporters. That thinking is shocking, to say the least. People, mainly men, will be visiting the site in large numbers, certainly, but they won’t be coming to see and learn about animal rights, instead they will be there to see one thing: women and sex. How far an animal rights group has fallen when they attempt to use sex and women’s exploitation to “gain followers.”
We all should be ashamed over the idea. In fact, we should be repulsed that through further women’s nudity, PETA believes they will get more support for their “causes.” How many shelters does the organization run? Zero. That’s right, none. Sure, there are great people inside the organization that feel deeply about animals and their well-being, but the reality is that by launching this site, they are doing exactly what they propose to fight against. It is a failure of massive – no pun intended – magnitude.
Adams is hopefully watching what is going on and will deliver a lashing to the organization over this move. In “Sexual Politics” Adams points out how meat-eating is part of the patriarchal society that the Western world has come to enjoy. She tells us that women are often seen giving men the meat they believe are the “best” food. In this case, it is porn.
The exploitation of women for animal killing is abhorrent enough, but for a group that had earned the respect of so many for so many years, this new porn site is yet another example that they have lost their way and continue to disgracefully corrupt the animal rights community. It is time for a change. Maybe PETA can do it, but they need a makeover and they need it fast.
BM
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