My Problem with Protesters Part One- PETA

this particular topic has been bugging me for about two weeks now, the idea of protesting and the tactics people/organizations undertake to get their points across. most people who know me well enough know that i'm pretty opinionated about things that rub me the wrong way. what i'm also pretty vocal about is when organizations or people do/say INCREDIBLY stupid things to leave an impression.

my DIVA 200 class got a taste of this when i said that i'm not a fan of PETA. might sound odd, considering my love for animals, and even my involvement with julie's *glisten)hive installation. it hurts my soul when i see an abused animal, and i still get teary-eyed when i see freshly-killed meat heading to the market.

i also know that PETA has done quite a bit to rectify the animal cruelty problem, and there are a few success stories attributed to their intervention. and some of their idealisms i can say i approve of- for instance, their anti-fur campaign. i HATE seeing people in fur, even more so when it's not like an antique coat or something akin to a hand-me-down. the whole 'i'd rather go naked than wear fur' campaign? brilliant, really.

where i differ with PETA's 'good intentions' is mainly their methods. there's a way to educate people without resorting to scare tactics, sensationalist pranks and what i consider borderline deception. oh don't worry, i'll give my examples.

point 1/2- their scare tactics/deception.
yes, some of the things they show are pretty gruesome. i have a pretty weak constitution for slaughterhouse footage and the life, so i know that my use of the term 'scare tactics' could be taken with a grain of salt. however, when they go ahead and scare a pre-teen into becoming a vegetarian, i draw the line. i can't find the exact article of the case im referring to, but here's a link to the same campaign. But this detail of this same case is what irritated me. This kid and his mum were out, and a PETA offical LURED this kid away from his mother with what he thought was an honest to goodness McDonald's Happy Meal. what he got instead was the scare of his young life- pamphlets and GRAPHIC photos of chickens being 'abused' and slaughtered for food, specifically for McDonald's Chicken McNuggets. the personnel did NOT approach the mother first. the personnel did NOT ask permission from the mother who WAS with her son at the time, or even give her the pamphlets to decide for herself if it's something she wants to share with her kid in any shape or form. instead, she virtually scared him into NEVER EATING CHICKEN AGAIN.

this is a kid who isn't even 13 yet! somehow this is considered right??

do kids need to know how their food is produced? at some point in time, yes they should. when they are OLD ENOUGH to properly make that decision for themselves.
should you, as a member of PETA, essentially USURP the role of a parent and share with susceptible minds these frightening images of gore and death? absolutely NOT.

and this beelines itself to the deception bit. at first glance, a lot of their propaganda will fool you into buying into their little stunt. from a design side, sure- you can say it's really clever, changing Ronald McDonald into a knife-wielding murderer [as if kids with a fear of clowns ALREADY didn't have a hard time as is!], or the Inukshuk logo for the 2010 Winter Olympics being subtly changed into a figure clubbing a baby seal. but ethically? it's fucking sick.

why are you so okay with deceiving/tricking people into buying into your crap? is it because you know if you tried the diplomatic approach [like holding a damn conversation], they're going to make you out to be a bunch of nutjobs?!

point three- the goddamn stunts.

YES WE GET IT. killing seals is bad. very bad. we also get that it should be stopped, and shame on those who support it/stand by idly and do nothing about it. but do you REALLY have to pie a ministry official in the face on national television??

i'm sorry, but antics like this? that's just childish in my eyes. it's akin to a 5 year old throwing the most feared of temper tantrums JUST so that people can ooooh and aaaaah over her and she can feel validated and loved and noticed for the next 5 minutes. what is that benefitting? i'll answer this one for you: NOT A DAMN THING. you are NOT stopping a seal getting clubbed to death by throwing a shaving cream pie in a person's face. you are not causing someone to stop and think about the animals that suffer by drenching them in what looks suspiciously like blood. instead, you are probably going to get them thinking about how they can have you arrested. and that won't be saving a seal or a chicken, either.

also, getting all uppity because the President of the United States swatted a fly is really, REALLY lame. not to mention stupid. i'm sure that energy could've been put into stopping a seal from being clubbed. but no, you chose to pour your tears over a FLY. something i'm so damned sure you yourself have swatted, squished and Baygon-ed the HELL out of. no tears wept for the bears in china being kept illegally for their bile for 'ancient chinese medicine', or for the wolves and wolf pups that Sarah Palin is okay with SHOOTING IN THE HEAD from a fucking HELICOPTER. you cry over a FLY.

i'm REALLY gonna sympathise with your causes now!

look, i'm all about getting you point across. i get that need as someone who has delved into activism back in the Bahamas. but i consider it a point of pride that i NEVER tried to trick, manipulate or shock someone to get my views across. there's a better way to do these things and get results, and even to gain respect for what you do. ever wonder why PETA's name is almost like mud to the common folk? it's for shit like this that they pull, to make you believe that they're saints in disguise for pitying those of creation without the ability to overcome us and defend ourselves from their cruelty. maybe if most of the stunts they pull weren't as asinine, you'd actually have more supporters.

part two of this rant comes later- this was too much work to type about.