Context is important.
When pornographers show naked women in cages the meaning is different than when PETA shows naked women in cages. PETA's message that cages are inhumane and wrong is damn important here and contextualizes the images to say something along the lines of, "no non-consenting, sentient being belongs in a cage."
You can't analyze PETA from the same perspective that you analyze porn. You have to think differently.
Hi Elaine - thanks for stopping by.
I completely agree with you that context is important, but the context in which we choose to frame the event leads us to different conclusions.
First, I'm intrigued that you made the leap from my calling the PETA demonstration misogynistic to assuming that I was viewing the protest as some sort of soft-core porn. That certainly wasn't where I was. For one, I don't necessarily think that all porn is misogynistic, and secondly, I enjoy the sight of a scantily-clad woman as much as any other person who's attracted to women. But context, as you note, is important.
The context I had in mind was a long and not-so pleasant history of using women as sexualized objects with which to sell things, and unfortunately, PETA has a fairly long history of utilizing these tactics. I have to ask myself, "Why isn't there a 6'4", 220 lb man in the cage? Surely that would be a more accurate representation of how factory-farmed chickens are treated?" Of course, then you couldn't play with the fun "chick" pun, sure. So women help make your point. Why do they have to be in bikinis? Why not dressed in feathers? The answer, of course, is to titillate us into paying attention. It's the same way they sell aftershave and beer. On top of that, read the press release. It reads like the cajoling of a politically-conscious strip club barker on Bourbon Street.
Using cheap stunts - with the concomitant cheapening of women as sexualized objects for sales - is just really insulting. I think factory farming is inhumane, unhealthy, and it doesn't produce good quality food. I don't need to be lured in with a little soft-core kink to be interested in the message. Are there people who are going to show up to see the half-naked babes? You bet. Will any of them be receptive to your message? I'm imagining the vast, vast majority will be unable to recall anything other than "animal rights" a half-hour later. Even if just one person was convinced about the inhumanity of the factory farming of animals, is it worth the degradation to the women - women who could actually talk to me about the issue - for that one vote of support?
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