PETA: Sexy or Sexist?

via Daily Bedpost by Em & Lo on 7/27/08

This week, in response to an opinion piece in the NY Times on the legal rights of apes in which PETA's moves were referred to as boneheaded, the president of PETA wrote a letter to the paper defending its use of provocative sexual imagery in its animal rights campaigns, saying: "Forgive us our bikinis and our shock tactics, but our message that all beings--both human and nonhuman--deserve compassion and respect is one that we must work hard to make heard." It's a line that's easy for people like those over at Feministing to take issue with, when so many of PETA's ads use female sexuality in a way that seems disrespectful and lacking compassion. See their PETA collage for examples.

Now, we're no apologists for PETA, despite Lo's vegetarian status and her constant urging of Em to give up her foie-gras ways. Ever since their lame "Fur trim is unattractive" ad, we've always been wary of PETA making its messages at women's expense (come on, we're all animals, and we're all furry to some extent). HOWEVER, a quick review of their video library (including their banned ads) and we can't deny they've got some really good, sex-related content that's really not that offensive at all! (Well, unless you're a meat eater.) Here are our 5 faves:

1. "Sex Talk" (video above)
This is one damn funny ad. It's a riff on The Talk parents have with their teenage kids about sex. Unless you're a black market back-alley puppy pusher, you can't not love it.

2. "Sex and the Kitty"
Another fun one about what cats do when you're at work. Who knew kitties had O-faces?

3. "Rude Food"
Basically, vegetable porn. Aw, yeah.

4. "Sexy Sausage: Director's Cut"
A play on '70s porno--it uses a ridiculous porn plotline cliché to show how ridiculous it is that we eat crap that makes us impotent. Yes, there's some typical female T&A, but at least it's counterbalanced by the beefcake guy and the closeup on his package!

5. "Milk Gone Wild"
A parody of the Girls Gone Wild videos: instead of boobies, they've got udders. Because when you think about it--or, at least, when Lo thinks about it--it's kind of gross that we drink another species' breast milk. We wish there were a little more exposition in this one, but we didn't think the now-infamous New Yorker cover of the Obamas needed any explanation, so we'll give it to PETA. Yeah, okay, maybe this one could be considered a teeny bit offensive, though we're no fans of GGW and we thought it was funny. However, their follow-up, "Milk Gone Wild 2: At the Car Wash," is pure gratuitous  titillation, and that really is too bad. Yes, we all have our lines.

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