News Aug 19, 2009 at 10:35 am

Comments

1
nice effort on the signs. surprised they didn't use pencils and post-its.
2
Crabs and whales, LOL.
"I'm more offended"
"NO, I AM!" ...
ad infinitum
3
Thanks for covering the event! The blog is actually Erin Fairchild's, though Michelle Howa was a crucial part of organizing the protest!
4
I don't see how showing fat people is sexist. Fat people are gross regardless of gender.
8
I'm so proud of this city and the people who live in it. Animal rights shouldn't have to come at the expense of women. I wonder if some one shouldn't throw blood on Ms. Newkirk to symbolize the blood of women's suffering?
9
bud, plz explain. When I see this billboard, the group that seems to be being criticized is "fat people." Sure, it's showing a person in a bikini, which indicates it's probably a woman being drawn. But men can be fat, too! Fat doesn't discriminate by gender. I feel like the entire "this billboard is sexist" cause would be eliminated if they put out a complimentary billboard that featured a drawing of a fat man in swim trunks. Then the real issue - "fat-shaming" - would take its rightful place as the main issue here.

For the record, I'm a socially isolated (well, sort of) skinny, straight, white, vegetarian man, and I do not support PETA because of the crappy ad campaigns they've done in the past (the hyper-sexualized images of women ones). So, if the people protesting are protesting this and MANY campaigns simultaneously, then fine. But if only this one, what gives?

thanks.
11
Ha!
Erin Fairchild's blog is priceless ~~ especially the part where she complains about the audience having an abundance of white people in it...as she led a gaggle of white women into the audience.
Oh, and there's also the bit about how, when Newkirk asked them to talk to her after she was finished signing books, so that the people simply waiting to get a book signed and go home wouldn't have to wait for a circular discussion to come to an end ~~ Newkirk wasn't asking for courtesy on the part of the protesters, she was obviously making them wait because they were "fat."

Ha!
13
I would think that the sexism is in the viewer then. I personally didn't react to that sign any differently then I would if it had been a man. I just see fat (and yes, with prejudice)
14
I was there with the feminists, and I'm not white, I'm fucking Mexican, another group PETA has alienated as well. PETA also likes to use racism. How does this help animals. Someone should explain how racism and sexism helps animals and make this place a better world to live in?
16
Bud, "intentionally" doing something requires intention. Do you have some evidence of this?
17
It's sexist and fat shaming but mostly the ad is inaccurate.

18
"Someone should explain how racism and sexism helps animals and make this place a better world to live in?"

You're misunderstanding PETA. they don't help, shelter, rescue or care for animals or actually do a single thing to help anybody, anywhere, ever. They throw tantrums.
21
I'm very impressed with PETA.

The couple billboards are only a few thousand a month, but getting a bunch of people to be outraged all over the place, (even in places where the billboards aren't,) and getting the pictures of billboards in the media is freaking brilliant. PETA is filled with some serious marketing wizards. Getting the of "meat makes you fat" message out to everyone that has negative body image issues, (which are most of the people in the US,) should be much more expensive than this, but PETA figured out how to do it for very very little money. PT Barnum himself would be is awe as to what PETA has pulled here.

That said, I'm gonna go eat lunch now, and yes, it will include meat because I've lost 15 pounds in the last 2 months, (without trying to,) and that isn't healthy.
22
bud, I questioning the evidence of sexist intent. The intent to shame is clear, but the lady-specific intent to shame much less so.
23
"A woman in a bikini is more shame-inducing because everyone is less comfortable seeing women failing to conform to body norms than men."

I am much more comfortable seeing fat women than fat men. I guess that means I'm not sexist. Good for me.

What I want to know is, what is up with all the fat cyclists in this town? I know people who use bikes as their sole means of transportation and are still overweight. What's up with that? Am i right?
26
Fatphobia is so passƩ. These comments are embarrassing.
27
Are fat defenders helping anyone in the long run? Smokers get shamed all the time, but far more health care money is being spent on obesity related medical conditions (diabetes, heart failures, blood clots, and so on) than smoking related issues.
28
"it's necessary to shake people out of their complacency and have them realize that these are other living beings just like us." - ingrid makes my point exactly. peta could use some of their own advice when it comes to their sexism, sizeism and racism.
29
Hi, I was one of the feminists that were a part of organizing the protest and I was there for a little bit in the beginning, but had an important previous engagement and couldnā€™t stay for the lecture and what went on afterward. When we all first got there, I asked the person working the info desk whether or not Ms. Newkirk would be doing a question and answer session, and she said yes, that Newkirk was going to speak, show a video and then answer questions. Some one mustā€™ve warned her though that we were there and intended to ask her questions about PETAā€™s sexist and fat shaming policies and she skipped the Q & A, otherwise she just wasnā€™t interested in anyone there hearing what other people had to say besides herself.

As a fat former vegan woman of partial Mexican decent (PETA also has plans to put signs up along the Mexican border) I canā€™t help but question PETAā€™s policies and motives. What do they offer that is of benefit to the animals they claim to protect and to society as a whole at this point? They seem to exist only to make vegetarians look like crazy angry assholes while keeping the misogynist status quo firmly in place.

Honestly, I wouldnā€™t be surprised if PETA got most of itā€™s funding from the beef industry.

To say that Iā€™m totally crazy angry about that billboard is to put things mildly. I wish I could dump a bucket of red paint over Ingrid Newkirkā€™s head; Iā€™m not meat either .

I hope that in the future people continue to counter-protest PETA. Maybe as feminists we can learn some things about publicity from them and take a little of their spotlight eh?
30
So ... is it now considered healthy to be overweight? I thought I heard something to the contrary in health class, but I'm open to the idea that the guy who coached jv softball might not have been an authority on much of anything. I realize some people have medical issues that keep them from staying trim, but that can't be more than 20% of the obese population.
31
Touche, Zeebo.
32
The fundamental contradiction here is that our society encourages consumption, but abhors the byproducts. For that matter, women are encouraged to display their bodies at every opportunity, but any and all imperfections are scrutinized and marketed as reasons to buy more things (for instance, a vegetarian lifestyle which, let's be honest, isn't going to do much on its own).

PETA may not be world class misogynists, but they're certainly edging furtively in that direction.
33
Don't know if anyone's interested, but I just found this little blurb about PETA's beginnings while looking for something else:

"1981 -- People for The Ethical Treatment of Animals is founded by former Washington D.C. animal control chief Ingrid Newkirk and former Fund for Animals volunteer and Sea Shepherd Conservation Society crew member Alex Pacheco. PETA becomes the dominant U.S. animal rights group in part due to the prominence of the "Silver Spring monkey case," in which researcher Edward Taub was prosecuted for cruelty as result of an undercover investigation by Pacheco. Taub was convicted on six of 17 counts, but the convictions were reversed on jurisdictional grounds. The case was in court from August 1981 to May 1991. Belonging to the National Institutes of Health, the monkeys remained in NIH custody until all either died or were used in terminal experiments."
34
@ Vitamin:

As someone who has helped with many events at Powell's in the past, the general assumption is "Yes, after the reading the author will answer questions," because about 98~99% of them do just that. However, occasionally an author has a following engagement, or might have had bad experience with audience Q&A in the past and does not open the floor to questions after their talk/reading...there are a myriad of reasons, each myriad different for each person who declines on the audience Q&A.
So, as much as you seem to think the world is against you, I can assure you that there was no "warning" beforehand. And since you said that you weren't there after the reading, how would you know that she didn't have a Q&A afterwards? Did someone fill you in? If so, I guess they forgot to mention that Newkirk took the time to talk to everyone who came through the line after the reading, and even spent a good deal of time after signing her books to engage with the few protesters who came back later in the evening.

Sure, she might not have agreed with the reasons for the protest, but she seemed willing to discuss her reasoning with her detractors. She wasn't running or hiding at all; but simply placing her fans/supporters before her detractors. And I'm sure you would do the same thing if placed in her position.
35
"I know a crazy group who says its wrong to eat meat. Is it crazy?"

"Nooo, just ignorant. And besides, they kill lots of animals in their poorly-run animal shelter."
36
The billboard IS inaccurate. A vegetarian can certainly be overweight. And a meat eater can certainly be skinny. I think this makes PETA look dumb. Also, the image of the woman in the bikini who isn't skinny and is called fat IS sexist. FYI, people can be overweight for many reasons. A big reason isn't so much if you're veg or not. It's if you eat crappy food with crappy ingredients, like trans fat, hydrogenated oils, high fructose corn syrup, artificial sweeteners, and artificial ingredients. Also, overall HEALTH is more important that weight. Eat more raw & fermented foods. Love your body. Love animals and the Earth. Eat organic. Grow your own.
37
there were men with the feminist group of protesters, btw--every heard of the idea--besides the fact that shaming people into anything never works. it only isolates and alienates people who would otherwise be interested. thanks a lot peta, for pissing off more people instead of creating allies. where's the love? snuggly cute animals work better on billboards.
38
there were vegan/vegetarian men with the feminist group of protesters, btw--ever heard of the idea of feminst men? --besides the fact that shaming people into anything never works. it only isolates and alienates people who would otherwise be interested. thanks a lot peta, for pissing off more people instead of creating allies. where's the love? everyone knows that snuggly cute animal pictures work better on billboards.
39
It is my goal now to say vegetarians and vegans are definitely overweight. PETA is wrong. They are alienating those that might otherwise stand with them. I am vegan, fat and PETA sucks.
40
@Vitamin and blownspeakers,

Just FYI, I asked the Powell's communications representative if there was a Q&A planned for the night and he said there was not. He also said that the store did not know about the protest before it happened, which I think is plausible because it was organized so quickly.
41
Maybe those vegans should lay off of the beer, burritos and voodoo doughnuts.

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