Weighing the Impact
At some level, PETA’s tactics have worked. With more than 2 million members across the globe, PETA is the largest animal advocacy group and comparable in size to the human rights organization, Amnesty International. Yet as effective as their guerilla tactics are at grabbing the passerby’s attention, they also make PETA seem ridiculous at times.
Most disturbing, though, is that the same (if not more brazen) use of women as sex objects to sell alcohol and fast cars is used by PETA to promote animal rights. PETA’s President Newkirk has argued that the women who volunteer for PETA campaigns are not being exploited, but have decided to make statements with their bodies. She also points out that the average person isn’t going to decide to read about animal cruelty, but if they click on a Web link to see a nearly naked Alicia Silverstone, they just might take the time to find out why she is a vegetarian. The key word, though, is might. Getting a peek of Alicia’s hot body is unlikely to inspire a desire to learn about slaughterhouses. Meanwhile, PETA is promoting the idea that women, even impassioned, smart activists, must rely on their bodies to be heard. That seems to be a gigantic step back for women’s rights, even if it is for the puppies’ sake.
