Hey, did you hear about PETA suing a primate sanctuary run by Friends of Animals? It's pretty ridiculous. I have a great email about it I can forward to you, or could copy and paste here, but it's long! What's your email address?

 

I have to say that this is something I actually support PETA doing, though not at all in the manner in which it is done (as per the usual). While these tragedies throughout history are unique and specific, the Holocaust does have certain undeniable parallels to animal agriculture: non-humans are singled out because of their "otherness"; they are sequestered in miserable, shockingly squalid conditions; they are transported to their deaths. The whole thing is both treated as business-as-usual and concealed from view. While I think that such overly simplified parallels create a vastly dumbed-down, stultifying version of both tragedies (and for this reason alone would not support), I think it's fairly brave for them, rather than one of their usual shock-value, mindless campaigns. And, hey, at least there are no naked B-list actresses or damn Lettuce Ladies! Anyway, I am with you on most of what you've written on your lovely blog but I have to respectfully disagree (with qualifiers) here.

 

Marla, I don't think it's necessarily a bad analogy, because, as you say, animals are tortured in much the same way that people in concentration camps and other similar situations are/were treated.

But (and maybe this is preaching to the choir since you've just said you don't like how they did it) just because similarities exist doesn't mean it's okay to do it like this, because, as I've said before, PETA is trying to win this argument by brute force, by using a still very much oppressed group as human cannonballs in their argument. I thought about bringing this up in the original post but didn't because I know it's something that tends to attract abusive trolls to a blog, but I'm a rape survivor, and to me this is not all that different from showing pictures of women being raped and comparing them side-by-side with how cows are treated in factory farms. (In fact, I once failed a Dutch World War II literature class because it reminded me too much of my experiences with rape, so disturbing are the similarities between the two.) And, worse yet, because this ad ran prominently in Germany, where there are still Holocaust survivors, it makes me imagine what it would be like to be walking down the street and suddenly see a picture of myself when I was being raped, trying to convince people to go vegan. Or, for the younger generations, imagine turning a corner and seeing a picture of your mother being raped. It's not that great a stretch, seeing as how Eli Wiesel was in one of the ads without his knowledge. Even if there are similarities, it doesn't mean it was the right thing to do. And the fact that PETA lied to get those pictures from the Holocaust museum tells me that they know very well how hurtful this would be to the Jewish community, and the fact that they refused to stop when the museum asked them to tells me just how much respect they have for Jewish people. (Which is also a shame for PETA since Jewish people are more receptive to animal rights and vegetarianism than many other major religions.)

I'm still also incredibly puzzled at why PETA apologized before (and quite genuinely, it seemed) but now they're defending their decision. It's just another one of their many inconsistencies, I guess.

 

I agree with your second paragraph: as usual, PETA is totally, perhaps willfully, tone-deaf, attacking people with their imagery whether it is hurtful or not, whether it is productive or not. They exist in their own self-contained little bubble and do what they want to as an organization regardless of how this approach effects the larger community. You know that kid you didn't want to play with as a child because she would change the rules of the game you were playing, hit you with her toys, act rude? That's PETA. So I totally agree with you on that and always did. And forcing people to re-experience trauma is very in keeping with their approach, rather than using fresh, original and smart methods for evoking compassion. And, again, I am opposed in theory and practice to picking-and-choosing among tragedies like it's some big buffet at their fingertips. Ick. I just think, as I said, that the parallels they (and others) have made to the Holocaust are difficult to not acknowledge.

Thanks for what you do!

 

You know that kid you didn't want to play with as a child because she would change the rules of the game you were playing, hit you with her toys, act rude? That's PETA.

LOL! Holy crap, we need to make this the official Webster's dictionary definition of PETA! I don't think I've ever heard a more apt description of them.

And, again, I am opposed in theory and practice to picking-and-choosing among tragedies like it's some big buffet at their fingertips.

Girl, you are on a roll with the PETA descriptions, you know that? Geez, now I want to learn Photoshop so I can make an illustration of PETA at the Tragedy Buffet, licking their blood-covered fingers and picking out the tragedies most convenient for their use. (But then I suppose people would get really sick of seeing it, as it would probably have to feature in about half the posts here...)

Anyhow, thanks again for commenting!