Action Alerts

Feminist Majority Foundation: Stop funding for Fake Clinics and Abstinence-Only Education! Stop Deceptive Advertising Practices!
“Millions of federal dollars fund failed abstinence-only programs and so-called Crisis Pregnancy Centers or “fake clinics.” Congressional studies have shown abstinence only programs don’t work and too often lead young people to question the need for contraception. Crisis Pregnancy Centers, often advertising under “abortion services” in the yellow pages, pose as full-service women’s health clinics and lure women in with promises of free pregnancy tests and “counseling” for unintended pregnancies. Contrary to what they want you to believe, these fake clinics repeatedly make false medical claims to dissuade and delay women from obtaining comprehensive medical services, particularly abortion and birth control. Tell Congress we will not be silent while failed abstinence-only programs and crisis pregnancy centers continue to use federal funding and endanger women’s health!”

Feminist Majority Foundation: Let President Karzai hear your voices: Stop attacking Afghan women’s rights
“We just heard that President Hamid Karzai has announced he will review the draft of Shia family law that would strip Afghan women and girls of their basic human rights. Karzai is responding to the worldwide outrage over the draft law including President Obama who called the law “abhorrent.” Let Karzai hear your voice too. Afghan women leaders in Parliament, in the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission, and in non-profit organizations have been fighting the proposed law as violation of the Afghan constitution and the basic human rights of women. We must lend our voices in support of our Afghan sisters.”

Four Paws: Call on pharmaceutical corporation Baxter to take responsibility!
“41 chimpanzees abused in experiments and infected with HIV and Hepatitis by pharmaceutical company Immuno/Baxter (producers of vaccinations, plasma and blood medications) have spent the past six years in an abandoned safari park in Austria. A responsible solution for the afflicted animals has been put off for years. Now the group is to be divided. The “healthier” apes will soon be taken to an inappropriately equipped zoo in Hungary – the future of the other chimpanzees remains uncertain. Join FOUR PAWS and call on the Baxter Corporation to finally support an animal friendly solution! The wellbeing of the chimpanzees must not be sacrificed once again in favour of short-sighted plans!”

NARAL: Tell the Senate: Filibuster is NOT an Option
“Anti-choice members of the Senate are threatening to filibuster some of President Obama’s high-profile nominees simply because they’ve taken pro-choice positions. The use of the ‘f’ word – filibuster – when referring to highly qualified nominees like Judge David Hamilton and Prof. Dawn Johnsen is unacceptable – and will not go unanswered. The same goes for attacks on Gov. Kathleen Sebelius’ pro-choice record. Write your senators today to fight back against anti-choice senators’ attempts to block these highly qualified nominees. Call on the U.S. Senate to confirm these three nominees without delay.”

Oceana: Reinstate Congress’s moratorium on drilling in the OCS
“American ingenuity and determination can certainly develop energy alternatives rather than develop more offshore oil platforms. Congress wavered in 2008, but we can get back on track toward protecting our oceans and ending climate change if you let your representatives know that you believe offshore drilling is not the answer. Drill home that point, by asking your representative to reinstate the drilling moratoria!”

Kelly’s note: Be sure to edit the sample letter provided by Oceana, should you choose to use it.

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Photo via ImaginaryGirl

A few weeks ago, Jennie at That Vegan Girl wrote about a little-known practice of the horse racing industry in which genetically “undesirable” mares are made into “nurses” for the offspring of “thoroughbred” mares and stallions. When “prize” mares are prevented from nursing their foals themselves, they’re of more use to breeders, as they can be impregnated sooner. More babies = more product = more money. And it’s always about maximum profit, right?

In addition to severing the mother-child bond between the “prize” mare and her foal, this practice has even graver consequences for the “nurse” mare and her child. Remember – in order to produce milk, females must first produce a baby. So what happens to the “nurse” mare’s foal, the one for whom the “nurse” mare’s milk is actually intended?

Jennie explains:

The Jockey Club, which is the official governing body of Thoroughbred racing (the kind you see in the Kentucky Derby) does not allow embryo transfer or artificial insemination of horses. In order to have a baby every year, a mare must be re-bred directly after foaling, which means that she must be shipped to the stallion for breeding directly after having her own baby. It’s a process that usually takes three to four weeks in whole, and the foal is too delicate (and valuable!) to travel with his mother. Plus, if she nurses her own foal, she’s not going to come back into heat and thus cannot conceive. Since her whole purpose is to give the breeder potentially valuable offspring, she must be rebred, and since she cannot nurse her own foal and fulfill her “purpose”, a “nurse mare” is brought in.

In order to give milk, female animals generally need to be pregnant and have given birth (the oxytocin secreted during birth allows lactation to begin). In the “nurse mare” industry, like the dairy industry, the newborn foals become the byproducts of milk production. The nurse mares are generally horses of “lower quality” who are otherwise healthy and good milk producers. They are bred to inexpensive stallions for the sole purpose of being able to provide milk to the potential racehorse foals. But wait, you ask… what about their own foals? If you’re unfamiliar with horses, you might think she, like a human wetnurse, gets to nurse both her baby and the other mare’s baby. That doesn’t seem so bad, you might think. Not bad enough to provoke yet another horse “sport” related rant at least. However, if you are familiar with horses, you know that mares rarely produce enough milk to support two foals (one reason why twins are such a problem) and that you’d have to give the mare a substantial amount more feed and that the whole process would require extra attention, extra money. Since the point is to make the “valuable” foal grow up strong and healthy, and the extra foal has no “value”, there’s no chance that the mare’s real baby will get a share of her milk anyway, so what then?

Traditionally, these foals are killed.

That’s right. Like dairy calves, these sentient “byproducts” are killed because they’re not worth keeping alive. It’s not that you couldn’t. You could (and rescues do) keep them alive on formula. However, on large farms, there tend to be a large number and these farms are concerned not with life, but with their bottom line. It is time consuming and not cheap, per say, to do. So they kill them. Why? On the off chance that the foal that their mother nurses will fetch money at auction or win on the track or become a superstar stud (25% chance he will, 75% chance he’ll go to slaughter too). Because their mothers’ are more valuable pregnant than being able to properly bond with their children.

(By the by, this is but a small part of Jennie’s post; you should go read the entire piece, because it’s excellent. Don’t worry, I’ll still be here when you get back!)

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Sigh. Shit like this is, I think, a natural outgrowth of the Chicks Love a Vegetarian (and similar) way of outreach, in which my “pussy” is treated like a reward for good male behavior. While admittedly kinda sorta cute (zomg! fluffy baby chickies and hot boyz!!1!), it’s also kinda sorta sexist. Let’s not pretend for a second that “chick” isn’t slang for women, and that a rather obvious double entendre is at play here.

Of course, both are natural outgrowths of living in a patriarchy, so ultimately, IBTP.

(Photo via whizchickenonabun; “fauxgressive” via Shakespeare’s Sister.)

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Photo via equality – and is part of an excellent set on Flickr demonstrating how children are socialized into speciesism: Speciesist infancy / Infancia especista .

Are Fast-Food Companies Marketing to Your Child at School?

The Cancer Project wants to know:

Are fast-food companies using your child’s time in school as another opportunity to market unhealthy foods? If so, we want to hear about it.

A 2005 review by the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies concluded that food marketing influences children’s food preferences, consumption, and health. In 2006, they concluded that food marketing was a contributor to childhood obesity in the United States. One in three children is currently overweight, one in seven is obese. These rates have doubled in children and tripled in adolescents in the last 20 years. An overweight 4-year-old is 20 percent more likely to become an obese adult—an overweight teen, 80 percent—increasing chances of obesity-related diseases such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and some forms of cancer.

The food and beverage industry in the United States views children as a major market force. Some companies even use in-school marketing to reach this vulnerable “target market.” The Pizza Hut BOOK IT! Program, for example, rewards student readers with a free Personal Pan Pizza. Several years ago, community outrage ended a program in which McDonald’s gave students in one Florida school district Happy Meals in exchange for good grades or good attendance.

If you are aware of this type of marketing program in your child’s school, please send details to me at info [at] cancerproject.org. Thank you for your help!

Best regards,

Krista L. Haynes, R.D., L.D.
Staff Dietitian

P.S. If possible, please send samples to:

Krista L. Haynes, R.D., L.D.
Staff Dietitian
The Cancer Project
5100 Wisconsin Ave., N.W., Ste. 400
Washington, DC 20016

This is yet another example of intersections; in this case, the megatheocorporatocracy selectively targets a captive, vulnerable audience – i.e., schoolchildren – in order to brainwash them into consuming – nay, craving – cheap, unhealthy and addictive foods. “Foods” which, not-so-coincidentally, usually incorporate the dismembered body parts and/or secretions of previously living animals. Oftentimes, underfunded schools are forced to submit and allow these death paddlers on campus – against their better judgment – with a bribe of some sort. Because simply donating the funds to a school in need would just be…charitable. Blecht.

Consequently, children suffer, animals suffer, society suffers – and the megatheocorporatocracy profits, hand over fist.

Thus, while the Cancer Project probably isn’t acting with the well-being of non-human animals in mind, this is still a cause we should get behind. So parents (grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, concerned friends, etc.), keep an eye out for fast food marketing geared towards your yung’uns, and send your examples to the Cancer Project.

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Action Alerts

Human Rights Campaign (HRC): Thank the VT leaders that supported equality!
“Vermont has become the first state in the country to enact marriage equality through its legislature! Not only that – it passed with a two-thirds majority! But right-wing groups are about to slam the leaders who made this victory possible, in the hopes that they can intimidate legislators everywhere into opposing marriage equality. All of us, across the country, must show our support.”

Kinship Circle: 4/6/09: Egg Farm Abusers Ought To Rot In Jail
“I thank the Maine Department of Agriculture for its prompt investigation of Quality Egg of New England LLC in response to allegations of extreme animal cruelty. I respectfully ask the Franklin County District Attorney’s Office to file criminal charges against Quality Egg in Turner, Maine. I understand the organization Mercy for Animals (MFA) filed a complaint with the Animal Welfare Program of Maine’s Agriculture Department. The complaint cites potentially illegal activities documented by MFA’s undercover investigator from 12/16/08 to 2/1/09 at the former Decoster Egg Farm.”

Peace Action West: US bombings in Pakistan are contributing to a humanitarian emergency
“President Obama has said his number one goal is to reduce the threat to terrorism and bring stability to a volatile region. Killing civilians, driving people from their homes and depriving them of food is going to create greater resentment of the United States and increase the likelihood that the local population will turn against us. Congress can put pressure on the administration to fully fund the humanitarian program President Obama supports, and stop the dangerous bombings that are undermining his other laudable goals. But they won’t do it unless they hear from you. Take action today.”

The Sierra Club: New Clean Energy Bill Makes a Strong Start
“Last week, the House Energy and Commerce Committee responded to President Obama’s call to move forward with comprehensive clean energy and climate legislation. Bold action is needed to renew, repower and rebuild America. Tell Congress to make polluters pay for the carbon pollution that causes global warming and implement requirements for renewable energy, energy efficiency and clean fuels.”

The Sierra Club: Congress: Pass a Final Budget that Ensures Our Clean Energy Future!
“President Obama has asked that the federal budget rebuild and renew our economy. Please contact your members of Congress today and urge them to pass a final budget that reflects President Obama’s priorities of creating millions of new green jobs, tackling climate change and ending oil dependence.”

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Action Alerts

Coalition to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages (via Animal Person): Montana Horse Slaughter Bill Not Vetoed
“On Friday, April 3rd, Montana Governor Brain Schweitzer returned House Bill 418 to the legislature with suggestions for amendments. The danger is that the amendments will be made and the bill will be signed into law. PLEASE TAKE ACTION. We must keep the pressure on the governor to VETO this bill. Call the governor’s office at (406) 444-3111 and ask him to veto it. Tell the governor’s office that (live) horses are a symbol of the American West and Montana should not want to be known as the horse slaughter capitol of the country.”

Corporate Accountability International: Tell Nestlé to stop fooling with community water supplies
“For years Nestlé has run roughshod over community and environmental concerns when taking and bottling water for brands like Poland Spring, Deer Park, Ice Mountain and Arrowhead. Nestlé is now looking to increase the number of bottling facilities it owns and operates across the country, in places like McCloud, California and Salida, Colorado. Tell the world’s largest bottler to stop wresting water resources from local control. Send a message to CEO Kim Jeffery today and join the thousands that have already taken action.”

CREDO Action: Tell President Obama: The Senate failed us. Now fighting Global Warming is up to you.
“Representatives of the coal, utility and auto industries in the Senate have refused to exercise leadership on climate change. It’s time for President Obama to use his executive power through the Environmental Protection Agency and take action on global warming.”

DawnWatch: Great Newsweek piece on puppy mills and designer dogs — 4/18/08 edition
“The current, April 13, edition of Newsweek has a superb article, by Suzanne Smalley, mostly about puppy mills, which is titled, ‘A (Designer) Dog’s Life,’ and sub-headed, ‘If the Obamas choose a hybrid, unethical breeders will try to cash in—and puppies are likely to suffer.’”

Farm Sanctuary: Prescription for Disaster: Sub-therapeutic Antibiotic Use on Farm Animals
“As factory farms have crammed more and more animals into tighter and tighter spaces, modern pharmaceuticals have become regular tools of the trade. But this mad science has hatched unintended consequences: more germs that are resistant to antibiotics. Now legislation has been introduced in Congress to stop this reckless behavior. Take action!”

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Updated, 5/26/10: Upon further reflection, I think I have to agree with commentators who noted that PETA’s failure to sexualize and objectify Ms. Leachman is, rather than a step in the right direction, simply further evidence of their rigid beauty standards. As in, PETA didn’t refrain from stripping Leachman down to her skivvies as a sign of respect, but because of ageism: Who wants to see an old lady nekkid? Yuck!

Who knows, perhaps I’m being too harsh on PETA. Be your own decider person.

FWIW, I meant to post this update ages ago, forgot (naturally!), and was only reminded when this post saw a huge uptick in views this past month. My skepticism (cynicism?; tomato, tomahtoe) re: everything PETA isn’t a recent phenomenon, is what I’m sayin’.

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Last week, Stephanie at animalrights.change.org gave a tip of her (faux suede) hat to PETA, for their latest ad featuring Cloris Leachman:

I’m a strong believer in acknowledging–and encouraging–the good while criticizing and discouraging the bad, especially if our plan is to effect change, both in people and in organizations. And although it’s rather unusual for me to talk about PETA two days in a row on this blog, and even more unusual for me to write about PETA in praise of one of its ad campaigns, I’m going to do both. Their latest ad has just been revealed today, and my initial reaction was “Oh my god, it’s stunning, and I love it.”

I couldn’t agree more – it’s important not just to criticize those campaigns that we find objectionable (whether from a human or animal rights perspective), but to offer solutions and praise organizations when they get it right.

The Cloris Leachman ad is classy, eye-catching and gorgeous – all of which is accomplished without objectifying Ms. Leachman. It’s also nice to see an older woman featured for a change. More often than not, PETA’s print models are young, thin, white, conventionally attractive, heterosexual (or amenable to lesbianism for the male gaze), and sexually available. PETA bucks several of these trends with Ms. Leachman’s advertisement.

I’ve always liked the “vegetables, fruit and assorted plant-based matter as clothing” concept; PETA’s execution of it (read: skimpy lettuce bikinis), not so much. Ms. Leachman’s red cabbage and lettuce ball gown demonstrates how yummy vegetarianism can be, thus promoting animal rights without engaging in misogyny. (Though a pro-veganism message would have been even better.)

Not to mention, when the campaign slogan is “Let Vegetarianism Grow On You,” more clothes are better, no?

After the jump are several more PETA ads that I like – none of which you’re likely to see on certain feminist blogs (*cough*cough*).

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In the latest installment of Target Women, Sarah Haskins takes on the meat-peddling, woman-hating fast food chain Carl’s Jr. for its extreme douchebaggery. While the “meat as sex” and “real men eat meat” memes are only tangentially explored, Haskins is in typical hilarious form, and demonstrates how the Carl’s Jr. (et al) commercials promote sexist stereotypes in the course of exploiting non-human animals. All in a day’s work, eh?
 

While compiling my final post about the intersections of misogyny and speciesism – which are evident in Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson’s The Pig Who Sang to the Moon: The Emotional World of Farm Animals - I stumbled upon this memorable exchange, in the chapter on chickens. It doesn’t quite fit with the post I’m writing, but it’s such a powerful piece that I’d like to share it anyway.

In addition to highlighting another type of intersection, it also helps to illustrate how similar processes are at play in the animalization of humans and the objectification of animals (both humans and non).

I had wanted to see how broiler chickens are raised commercially for some time. Not easy to do. Such places are off-limits to the general public. Chicken suppliers do not want people to know the intimate details of how their cheap chicken comes to the dinner table. Recently, though, Tony – a friend of a friend of a friend – said he would let me visit his chicken farm, as long as I did not identify him with a last name or say exactly where the farm was. A few weeks ago, I drove to Tony’s. He took me to four shed-like barns secluded behind giant cypress shrubs, well out of view of the public.

“We are expected to keep them out of sight,” he said. [...]

As I walked in, I was almost blinded by the sight of 25,000 pure white chickens, packed up right against one another as far as my eyes could see. [...]

Every day, Tony explained, he walks through this stiflingly packed room and picks up the dead and the dying chickens and disposes of them. He eyed me warily.

“You’re not from one of those crazy animal rights groups, are you? Okay, then, well, I guess I can tell you, I also take out the ones that are not growing. It wouldn’t pay, would it, to keep them there? No profit, they are just useless eaters.”

Masson places the following thought in parentheses, but it’s so important an observation, I think it deserves more. Instead of parentheses, bold type:

The phrase resonated for me. “Useless eater” was used by the Nazis to describe the inmates of psychiatric institutions whom the Nazis wanted dead, and indeed did kill.

(pages 91-93)

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Action Alerts

Amnesty International: Ask Secretary Clinton Why the US Continues to Deliver Arms to Israel
“Despite strong evidence of the misuse of U.S. weapons against civilians in Gaza, Amnesty International recently revealed that the United States sent a massive new shipment of arms to Israel. The Wehr Elbe, a ship controlled by the U.S. Military Sealift Command, docked and unloaded several thousand tons of arms on March 22 at the Israeli port of Ashdod. Ask State Department officials why the United States would deliver these arms to Israel.”

Defenders of Wildlife: Video Action: Remembering Limpy
“On Thursday — just one year after the famous wolf Limpy was shot and killed just outside Yellowstone National Park — President Obama’s pick as Secretary of the Interior, Ken Salazar, has taken it upon himself to eliminate Endangered Species Act protections for wolves in Greater Yellowstone, the Northern Rockies and other parts of the American West! As a result of Salazar’s action, more than 1,000 wolves in Idaho and Montana could be killed by people like Idaho Governor Butch Otter, who recently reaffirmed that he wants to be one of the first to shoot a wolf. This world-famous wolf was gunned down just outside Yellowstone National Park on March 28th, 2008 — one of the first of more than 100 wolves to be killed when the Bush/Cheney Administration eliminated vital federal protections for wolves last year.”