Yesterday, The Sydney Morning Herald had a piece about PETA titled, “Why does a pro-vegetarian organisation treat women like meat?” Good question. The women-as-meat connection’s nothing new — 1990’s Sexual Politics of Meat, anyone? But it’s especially ironic coming from a group that asserts, “Animals are not ours to use for entertainment.”
Seattle’s stellar Erica Barnett (writer for alt-weekly The Stranger, among other things) has pummeled PETA previously, as have a slew of bloggers — and PETA just keeps asking for it. A recent campaign makes raw meat bikinis and vegan strip clubs look downright tame: Interns were made up to look like steaks and left shrink-wrapped on the pavement in 80-plus-degree heat for over an hour. Good lord.
Check out The SMH‘s article here, and don’t miss the money quote:
A feminist commentator, Ann Friedman, summarises the message behind [PETA’s] ads: “It’s OK to buck the stereotype of real men eat red meat, because here are some naked ladies to reassure you that you’re still a superhetero manly man!”
