People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is at it again. This time, they are shaming women for eating eggs and drinking milk. Apparently, you aren’t a good feminist if you “like eggs, from your head down to your legs.”
PETA just launched a controversial ad campaign which includes a billboard in San Jose, California that reads “Face It—You Can’t Claim to Be a Feminist and Still Eat Eggs.”
Apparently, women and chickens share the same plight for control over their bodies. Thus, when women consume eggs and dairy, they are condoning the sexual exploitation and abuse of their sisters on the farm. No, really.
This is similar to last month’s inflammatory comments against the dairy industry that claimed drinking milk is racist.
PETA is no doubt passionate in their belief that humans and animals are on the same level, but most people do not agree.
To equate the harvesting of eggs from hens and the milk from cows to the sexual exploitation of trafficked women or the genital cutting of pubescent girls is irresponsible.
Law enforcement and advocacy groups struggle to stop sex trafficking of women in American communities or to prosecute those who perform the heinous procedure of female genital mutilation on girls. Should we now abandon these girls and women to fend for their own safety and health while we focus on freeing animals expressly bred for human consumption?
Furthermore, it’s insulting to call any woman who eats eggs and dairy a bad feminist. (Presumably by “feminist” they mean someone who supports the equality and advancement of women).
There are plenty of problems with today’s feminist movement, but consuming eggs and milk isn’t one of them. Many feminists today:
-
Exclude and denigrate conservative women for how they think and vote.
-
Turn all women into victims of widespread gender discrimination and sexual violence, even if there’s no concrete evidence to support their claims.
-
Ignore the personal agency and personal choices women make over their careers and lives.
-
Turn a blind eye to issues that are truly harmful to women like female genital mutilation.
-
Pit women and men against each other and rather than viewing men as allies in the fight for women’s equality.
-
Push for greater government action to control behavior regardless of the unintended consequences that hold women back.
Women would benefit if today’s feminists tackled these concerns rather than becoming animal justice warriors.
PETA says it hopes to sway progressive students and wealthy Silicon Valley women to become vegans – abandoning eggs and switching to non-dairy milk and cheeses. They probably also hope these women will shoot a few dollars their way.
If PETA is looking to expand its donor base by guilt tripping high-salaried left-leaning women, that’s fine. But make no mistake that their aim is to take out the meat, poultry, and dairy industries.
When they employ such over-the-top rhetoric, they become a stumbling block in their own way and it’s hard for anyone to take them seriously.