Should PETA be using the old marketing tactic “sex sells” to protect animals?
Annie Scudder, Editor at TrèsSugar, asks readers whether they think the amount of attention being brought to the protection of animals is worth the objectification of women in PETA’s ads.
Whether or not you wear or eat meat, PETA’s overtly sexualized publicity campaigns might leave a bad taste in your mouth. In addition to billboards featuring stars like Pamela Anderson and Olivia Munn going naked for the cause, the animal rights group often holds live spectacles in public places featuring attractive young women, models, or minor celebrities wearing little. For example, UK reality star Chantelle Houghton dressed up like a caged tiger in her underwear, black pumps, and body paint to protest the government’s decision not to ban wild animals on cruises. She addressed a serious issue in what looked like an ambitious sexy Halloween costume.
PETA’s Latest Ad Tries to Promote Veganism with an Injured Woman
Whether it’s a nude girl-on-girl bath for World Water Day or a sexy pilgrim outfit for Thanksgiving, PETA has mastered the sexualized-woman-as-activism genre. Take a look at some of the most recent public displays and tell me if you think potentially objectifying women is worth the attention it brings to animals.
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Photo credit: Flickr / mape_s
I think the more odious are the ads equating women who don’t shave their pubic hair to women who wear animal fur. I’ve got nothing against shaving, but it seems a little odd to make a moral issue out of it. PETA also seems to think it’s funny to belittle men with erectile dysfunction, usually with the aid of a veggie-bikini clad woman. Then there’s the ads that poke fun of overweight men, saying that they look like women. Doesn’t seem like any of that promotes a healthy body image.
PETA: Raises good points every now and again. No one pays attention because morons run their PR department.
I tend to be kind of libertarian about the whole posing for photos thing. If these women do this of their own free will and do it for reasons that they think are justified, then I don’t think those women are being exploited. Especially since the women photographed tend to be famous already and don’t really NEED to pose for these photos to pay the rent or anything. Perhaps these photos contribute to the objectification of women in general, but the celebrity women posing for PETA are hardly victims here. I’m wondering why this question is focused on PETA for… Read more »
I agree that the women probably aren’t being exploited, but… ” I’m wondering why this question is focused on PETA for using these images but not asking these women in the photos about their participation. ” Personally, this is the clincher for me. The real issue is “Why is PETA trying to sell animal’s rights with naked women?” When you consider that naked women have no relation to the cause outside of garnering attention, ‘objectification’ in this case becomes the only correct word to use. It’s not about exploitation, it’s about objectification, and it’s the bad kind, for what it’s… Read more »
I think that it’s completely untrue that people who willingly participate in exploitation are not exploited. There are millions of foreign workers that show up every day at jobs that underpay and abuse them. Are they not being exploited because they show up? In instances like the ones that are being discussed, a culture where women are constantly objectified gives the sense that that’s what is normal. It may not even feel like exploitation to some women, but I think that most people can tell that it is. If you raise women in a world where the most attention and… Read more »
Exactly. It’s just so counter intuitive. It’s not okay to objectify animals under any circumstance, though most animals arguably don’t seem to care, but it’s perfectly okay to objectify women.