| Tuesday, August 25, 2009 |
| Today in passive aggressive backpedaling |
Well, at least I don't have to worry about having reason to close this blog any time soon. Remember PETA's atrocious ad shaming fat women for daring to exist outside of burlap sacks? Well, check out their latest bit of barfitude, put up in place of their prior fat-hating billboard. On its own, it's pretty standard PETA fat-hating fare, but check out this quote from one of PETA's typical hateful little bigots:
"Our goal is help overweight Jacksonville residents - the best way to do that is to go vegetarian. We're not trying to insult anyone," Ashley Byrne, a senior campaigner for PETA, told Huffington Post after the first billboard was put up. "Vegetarians look and feel better than meat eaters. This is a life-saving message."
Yeah, you little fucking spokestool, because I didn't get the message the first 2,403,211 times around that if you're ugly and vegetarian or vegan you're a big. fucking. failure, and the entire female population of the world, as well as many men, certainly don't hear often enough that the only thing that matters is how you look, not who you are or what you contribute to the world. You know what, Ashley? This thin yet ugly vegan is sick to fucking DEATH of your stupid little goddamn organization shaming me for not being the epitome of a HOT HOT HOT vegan. In fact, half of the reason why I absolutely refuse to do leafleting is because I know I'd make a bad example for veg*ans because of how I look, and if you've ever done animal rights activism you know that leafleting is one of the activities for which most AR groups desperately need volunteers.
And quite frankly, when I hear sentiments like this, I don't even feel like I'm doing a good thing by being vegan. In fact, I feel like by being ugly and vegan I'm doing more harm than good to the cause; I feel flat-out like a bad person, like a liability. And what about all those so-called hot non-vegetarians, and the other vegetarians and vegans who don't measure up? And what about the torture animals go through so we can live up to the beauty standards that Byrne and all of PETA promote? Are animals really better off in a world mindlessly and cruelly obsessed with looks and consumption, a world with a frankly carnivorous appetite that can only be satisfied through the most horrible forms of animal testing and torture? Are we really better off in a world that values looks over kindness, that offers us nothing in return for goodness and everything in return for beauty?
As we grow more obsessed with the shallow, harmful things of consumerism that PETA stands for, both animals and people suffer and die, and nobody seems to remember Paul Wellstone's simple yet truest truth: "We all do better when we all do better." A world full of people miserable because they don't "look" good will be cruel to animals, each other and the environment, will focus on buying and what they can do to reach that impossible zenith of beauty rather than working to change the world. Meanwhile, in a world where we're not distracted and driven to misery by the beauty industrial complex, where our actions and not our bodies or faces dictate how others view us, people will have incentive to be good and kind, and will have little to nothing to gain by exploiting animals, each other and the environment. That is the world I want to live in, not PETA's land of selfish Beautiful People. |
posted by The Venerable Vegan Empress @ 4:49 PM   |
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| 10 Comments: |
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WIN. This is fierce and hot, VVE. And I'm totally going to start using "spokestool."
We all do better when we all do better, indeed. Keep doing your thing.
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Thanks, Vegan Burnout! I felt like my eyeballs were going to pop out of my head when I read about this new billboard...I really should know better by now, yet somehow I still expect PETA to occasionally display some semblance of compassion for those who aren't drowning in privilege. I really need to stop doing that. :P
On a completely unrelated note, I've just noticed that the link to my archives is gone. Why do you hate me, Blogger?!?
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Speaking of PETA nonsense, did you see ERFette's recap of the Portland protest of Ingrid Newkirk's appearance @ Powell's? She is EVIL. http://whatswrittenonmybody.blogspot.com/
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Well said, VVE, and I think you're hot Hot HOT despite everything PETA's minions would have us believe.
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Aw, thanks, Marla! The funny thing is that if you saw me on an average workday I'd look fairly normal, but if you got close or saw me without makeup my face is, well, frightening (as is my hair) and it always makes me think of all those stupid PETA "Got acne?" ads. Why do people believe that shit? Do they? GOING VEGAN WILL NOT GET RID OF ACNE, PEOPLE! Getting a gene transplant, now that might do it, but since we don't live in that reality I'm just kind of stuck with it.
Also, I think Blogger just ate a comment that I tried to approve...So if anybody just left a comment and it didn't post, I don't hate you or anything! Think of it as Blogger exacting tribute from me. Maybe in return it will give my archives link back!
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Very well said. I started out years ago supporting PETA and what they stood for, but they have gotten so whacked-out over the years I think they just stand as an example of what crazy is and obsession can do in our society. This makes me just want to rush out and take pictures of vegetarians that are fat.
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Wait, so does that mean the Save the Whales billboard will come back, perhaps a little bit larger, at some point within the next five years? (You know, just like the pounds that people who diet below their set points do.)
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Well said. I really like your blog. I stopped liking PETA when Ingrid made the comment that Pitbulls should die. She has never owned a Pit and obviously has no clue. And is contradicting her beliefs. Save all the animals BUT Pitbulls. Ugh.
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While it's true that many people lose weight when they go vegetarian or vegan, PETA's sentiments that it's only animal products that make you fat is ridiculous. I can understand stressing health (health concerns are on the rise in this country right now- animal rights not so much) but using shame and taking low blows to people's self esteem is really horrible. I'm vegan and fat so there's obviously something that contributes besides animal products.
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Here's another gem. Apparently veganism is about getting laid and about not being ugly and fat. And here I thought I was seeking justice for other animals. Silly me...
http://www.peta.org/mc/NewsItem.asp?id=13822
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Name: The Venerable Vegan Empress
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WIN. This is fierce and hot, VVE. And I'm totally going to start using "spokestool."
We all do better when we all do better, indeed. Keep doing your thing.