A n i m
a l W r i t e s © sm
The
official ANIMAL RIGHTS ONLINE newsletter
Publisher ~ EnglandGal@aol.com
Issue # 10/10/01
Editor ~ JJswans@aol.com
Journalists ~ Park StRanger@aol.com
~
MichelleRivera1@aol.com
~ sbest1@elp.rr.com
THE NINE ARTICLES IN THIS ISSUE ARE:
1 ~ Anthropornography by Carol J. Adams
2 ~ Deadly Anthrax May Affect You by Robert Cohen
3 ~ Children With Pet Dogs Adjust Better to Parents' Divorce
4 ~ Screening of "The Witness"
5 ~ P&G Lies
6 ~ Strange Species
7 ~ Taliban Victimizes Animals, Too
8 ~ Osama bin Laden
9 ~ Memorable Quote
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~1~
Anthropornography
by Carol J. Adams - cja@airmail.net
from The Animals' Agenda - Volume 21 * No. 4
Here's a "hot" topic: Why is meat
sexy? Is it just because sex sells products, that to any meat eater, meat
is a product, and so sex is used to sell meat? Some would argue that it
is as simple as this: Sex sells, so meat producers use it
.
When sex sells, say, cigarettes or alcohol, an implication exists. For
heterosexual men, the implication is "If I use this product, I will have
women." But with meat eating, a more complex relationship to sex is
going on. I explored it in The Sexual Politics of Meat, but it is
time to revisit the issue. Back in 1989, when I finished writing The
Sexual Politics of Meat, I thought I was done with this subject. Much
to my surprise, I was not. Readers started sending me examples of the
sexual politics of meat that they found in advertisements, on billboards,
T-shirts, matchbook covers, etc. And I realized it was getting worse, not
better. In the tenth anniversary edition of the book I describe this
realization. Traveling around and showing the slide show that I created
based on these images, I have become more pessimistic about the problem.
While sexist institutions topple around us, meat eating is one of the bastions
of sexism that seems to be growing in strength Sexist acts such as harassment
and discrimination can be legally challenged, but meat eating is a safe arena
for the expression of sexism; contempt for women is one of the messages that
accompanies these ads.
It is not just that meat eating is positioned to appeal to the idea that men
(not women) eat meat. Of course it does that. It is not just that
species of animals that become "meat" are depicted in pornographic
poses. We have to understand that pornography, like meat eating, is
repetitive behavior; it is a highly structured product, cued to arousal.
Sometimes when meat is sexualized, animals whose species are consumed -- cows,
pigs, chickens -- are depicted in pornographic poses that would not be
publishable if a woman were being shown. My friend Annie Hamlin has
suggested the word "anthropornography" for this.
The pornographic cues announce that sexual objectification is happening, but no
one is held accountable because women are not being looked at -- animals
are. With most sexist ads, an implication exists. With the
sexualization of meat, an unspoken equation exists. Women are to men as
animals are to humans -- consumable beings. This is a dangerous
equation. We know that meat eating's strength is related in large part to
the objectification of animals, the denial of their own individuality.
People do not have to deal consciously with the fact that they are eating an
animal; they are eating a "piece of meat." A similar
objectification occurs often before women are attacked, raped, or
battered. They, too, are seen as pieces of meat. The sexualization
of meat exploits this equation. (To the question "What about
men? Aren't men cast as 'meat' too?" I would say, men are
usually the possessors of their meat, whereas women are depicted as meat.)
Something else is going on as well. Meat eating will cause people an
attack of conscience. At some point they might think, "Gee, I am
eating a dead animal. Should I continue?" They might feel
uneasy. But feeling uneasy is an uncomfortable feeling. Most of us
don't like feeling uncomfortable. Most of us want uncomfortable feelings
to go away. In our culture, men are still less likely to know what to do
with uncomfortable feelings. Where can feelings of uneasiness about meat
eating go? They can go outward, in anger towards a vegetarian. Or
they can be sexualized. When meat is sexualized there is somewhere for
that energy to go -- it gets transformed into a sexual feeling. Now that
is something our culture says is OK.
We animal activists proclaim, "Look, we are animals, too! Animals
are like us in so many ways. They have feelings. They have social
relationships. They have consciousness. Anthropornography undercuts
these claims. It takes the sensibility that animals are like us, a
sensibility that is disturbing if you benefit from animal exploitation, and
lodges it safely within a sexual economy. These uncomfortable feelings
find a release. The cues have their desired effect and nothing changes.
Carol J. Adams is the author of The Sexual Politics of Meat: A
Feminist-Vegetarian Critical Theory, the series The Inner Art of
Vegetarianism: Spiritual practices for Body and Soul, and Living Among
Meat Eaters, which will be released on November 6.
"Reprinted with permission from The Animals' Agenda, P.O. Box
25881,
Baltimore, MD 21224, (410) 675-4566, www.animalsagenda.org."
Email: office@animalsagenda.org
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~2~
Deadly Anthrax May Affect You
by Robert Cohen - i4crob@earthlink.net
http://www.notmilk.com
YOUR EMAIL IS SAFE TO OPEN
The same may not be said for your snail-mail.
It appears that the deadly anthrax infection in Florida was
"delivered" by somebody with evil intentions.
FBI will soon arrest that individual, and America will be lulled into a false
sense of security.
Today we learn that the Florida anthrax was delivered in letter form by a man
with Middle-East connections. That story can be found on Matt Drudge's website.
(Drudge is the reporter who first broke the Monica Lewinsky story).
http://www.drudgereport.com
Here is what you will not read on Drudge.
AMERICA'S ANTHRAX EPIDEMIC
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently averted a meat and
dairy panic by using their enormous resources to censor and keep the truth
about America's meat supply from Americans.
USDA's mission is to protect the health and safety of America's food supply,
but their one true mission seems to be to protect meat and milk producers, at
all costs.
THE UNTOLD STORY
I have learned that there was an enormous meat recall this past August, and
that recall may very well have been traced to an anthrax epidemic in cattle and
cows in the state of Minnesota.
Hundreds of thousands of pounds of meat were affected.
Americans have not heard the story, which you will first see here.
When meat is recalled, the usual reason given is "listeria"
infection. When chicken is recalled, the usual reason given is "E coli
157" infection.
This past summer, the reason for the recalled meat was given as "E
coli"
contamination.
In July, hundreds of deer and several horses and cattle died in south Texas
after an outbreak of anthrax.
http://www.msnbc.com/local/ktsm/m65959.asp
In September, anthrax was found in a South Dakota
buffalo herd.
http://www.msnbc.com/local/kdlt/m86829.asp
On August 30th, a total of 500,000 pounds of beef
were recalled from various states.
http://stacks.msnbc.com/news/622019.asp
It appears that the recalled meat was processed
at IBP's Dakota City beef factory in Nebraska. Were cattle trucked a mere
100 miles from Minnesota to Nebraska, and the slaughtered meat distributed to
Sam's Clubs in Mississippi?
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/010830/clth023.html
Wisconsin:
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/010830/dath042.html
Texas:
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/010830/dath045.html
and Florida:
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/010830/dath044.html
Anthrax
victims die from pneumonia-like symptoms. It might be appropriate to autopsy
those who may have been infected from diseased cattle and dairy cows.
England reacted to Hoof and Mouth Disease by destroying millions of farm
animals. British citizens recognized that meat and dairy consumption may be
hazardous to one's health, despite the fact that Hoof and Mouth is rarely
passed on to humans from farm animals.
An American anthrax epidemic might very well have ended the consumption of meat
in America.
USDA did their job very well. They protected those who raise cattle and dairy
cows so that an unsuspecting public might eat diseased flesh and drink diseased
body fluids.
I do not have the resources to check every trail from every animal, but our
government does. Conflicts of interest prevent USDA from conducting an unbiased
investigation.
The one American government body having the authority and power to do the right
thing is the Government Accounting Office (GA0). The GAO is the investigative
branch of Congress.
What can you do? Look up the phone number of your Congressional representative.
Print this column. Send a WRITTEN letter requesting a GAO investigation. That
is all we can do to hope that truth can be found.
Americans have sacrificed freedoms and placed their trust in government to
protect their safety. Such faith is not what made America great.
It is up to each of us to insure that our children, parents, and loved ones
continue to enjoy complete health and safety.
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~3~
Children With Pet Dogs
Adjust Better to Parents' Divorce
by Alexandra Frean, Social Affairs Correspondent
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/0,,2-2001331313,00.html
CHILDREN
who have pet dogs adjust better if their parents divorce than those who do not,
researchers in Germany have found. A study into the behaviour and
feelings of 150 children whose parents had divorced found that one year later
those with a dog were less aggressive and better socially integrated than those
without. Children without a dog tended to be prone to vandalism, stubborn and
irritable, and likely to act up to gain attention.
Tanja Hoff, a psychologist at the University in Bonn and co-author of the
research, said that pet dogs appeared to provide children from divorced
families with a strong sense of security and could help in stabilising mood
swings.
Her research, presented at the International Conference on Human Animal
Interactions in Brazil, is based on questionnaires completed one year after
divorce by a representative sample of 150 divorced mothers of only children
aged six and 11. Of these, 75 had a pet dog and 75 did not. The 75 children who
had a dog were also interviewed.
More than 40 per cent of children without a dog displayed aggressive behaviour,
frequently breaking things on purpose, compared with 25 per cent of the
children with dogs. Extreme irritability was displayed by 38 per cent of the
dog-less children compared with 24 per cent of those with dogs.
Thirty-six per cent of children with no dog were found to misbehave to draw
attention to themselves, compared with 27 per cent of the children with a dog.
Frau Hoff attributes the therapeutic effects of a dog to the additional
security the animal provides to children through its affection and
loyalty. “The dog’s love is unconditional and is always there. He
provides continuity and stability.”
Replies from the children backed this up. They included: “When my parents used
to quarrel I always went to my dog”; “If I’m playing with my dog, then I don’t
think as much about the worries I sometimes have”; “When my Daddy was no longer
around, I didn’t feel quite as lonely thanks to my dog”; and “My dog always
loves me”.
Frau Hoff said, however, that parents in the middle of a divorce who might be
tempted to rush out and buy a dog in a desperate attempt to make their children
feel better may well be wasting their time.
“All of the families in my study had had the dog for a long time,” she
said. “Even so, more than 9 per cent of parents said that the dog itself
was a cause of stress for them during the divorce. The additional stresses
caused by having to deal with a new pet during the divorce crisis might
outweigh the benefits.”
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~4~
Screening of "The
Witness"
SF BAY AREA SCREENINGS OF "THE WITNESS" - OCTOBER 25-28
WITH EDDIE LAMA, JENNY STEIN, AND JAMES LAVECK
Please join us for a special screening of "The
Witness" at several locations around the San Francisco Bay Area. Tribe of
Heart's (www.tribeofheart.org) Jenny Stein (the
Director), James LaVeck (the Producer) and Eddie Lama (the main figure) will be
present at each of the screenings to participate in a post-film discussion.
"The Witness" is an award-winning film documentary that tells the
story of one man's remarkable change in animal consciousness. The documentary
skillfully interweaves Eddie Lama's life-changing journey with a candid view of
our society's treatment of animals.
The Center for Animal Protection and Education (CAPE) will be sponsoring the
following screenings and post-film discussions of "The Witness."
* SAN FRANCISCO - Thursday, October 25, 7:00 - 9:00 p.m. - Opera Plaza Cinema
(415.352.0810), 601 Van Ness Street ($5 donation)
* MONTEREY - Friday, October 26, 7:00 pm - Monterey Institute of International
Studies (MIIS), McCone Building, Irvine Auditorium, 499 Pierce Street
* SANTA CRUZ - Saturday, October 27, 7:30 p.m. - University of California at
Santa Cruz, Classroom Unit II ($3 for students, $5 for the general public)
* OAKLAND - Sunday, October 28, 12:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. - Parkway Speakeasy
Theater (510.814.2400), 1834 Park Boulevard ($5 admission)
For more information, please visit CAPE's website at
www.capeanimals.org
or contact Jennifer McHale, Program Manager, at 831-688-5225, or jennifer@capeanimals.org.
Note: Please feel free to cross-post and distribute this announcement.
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~5~
P&G Lies
CONTACT: Barbara Stagno, IDA, 914-693-6559
Email: bstagno@ix.netcom.com
Animal Defense League of Cincinnati 513-219-3029
www.idausa.org
P&G
Shareholder's Meeting Targeted for Lack of Progress in Halting Needless Animal
Tests
Cincinnati, Ohio - Displaying a banner reading "P&G: Where's the
Progress?" activists against animal testing to confront participants at
this year's Procter & Gamble shareholder meeting to address its lack of
movement in eliminating these archaic, barbaric and unnecessary tests.
The protest was to be held at Cincinnati Music Hall on 1243 Elm Street starting
at noon on Tuesday, October 9.
In July 1999, P&G responded to the intense and ongoing public pressure over
its reliance on animal testing by issuing a news release declaring the company
was stopping animal tests. In fact, this proved nothing more than a very savvy
public relations move to restore its reputation and win back customer support.
The new announcement carried all sorts of exceptions to P&G's so-called
elimination of animal tests. The bottom line is that P&G's announcement
only pertained to existing or reformulated products on animals. The company has
continued to test new products and new ingredients on animals. In essence, this
was not really any sort of breakthrough at all, but P&G hoped to appease
consumers into believing it was taking the first step towards a final ban on
animal tests.
Now, more than two years later, that misleading "first step" has
progressed no further. Meanwhile, P&G was reported by the British media as
having "lobbied intensely" to prevent the emerging laws passed by the
European Union that will impose a total ban on animal tests on all cosmetic
products in EU countries. This effort by P&G shows the company's true
intent for perpetuating outdated and cruel animal tests.
Shocking, too, was the recent exposure that the Iams Corporation, a subsidiary
of P&G, has been harming and killings dogs and cats, claiming to make a
better brand of pet food. In dozens of painful and invasive experiments, the
Iams Co., which manufactures the Iams/Eukanuba line of dog and cat foods, has
caused hundreds of dogs and cats to suffer and sometimes die in the name of
"nutrition research." These experiments were not designed to help the
animals involved. These victims were all healthy animals who were used simply
as disposable laboratory equipment.
In communications between In Defense of Animals (IDA) and Iams, the company
claims it has stopped all such nutrition research in the last two years.
However, it has not yet signed a letter that was presented to Iams in July,
asking Iams to more specifically define what it will and will not do in animal
experiments. Until such clarification is attained, IDA considers Iams to be
sponsoring yet more pain and suffering on animals and will continue to urge
consumers to boycott both P&G and Iams.
In Defense of Animals is an international, California-based animal advocacy
organization dedicated to ending the abuse and exploitation of animals by
defending their rights, welfare and habitats.
IN
DEFENSE OF ANIMALS · 131 CAMINO ALTO, SUITE E · MILL VALLEY, CA 94941 ·
415-388-9641
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~6~
Strange Species
from CBishop986@aol.com
Homo
Sapiens is indeed a very strange species. We try our darndest to destroy
and kill off our only home that we know and at this point in time, the only
place in the whole universe, we, as a species can survive on - the earth.
We do our very best to kill off our fellow non-human inhabitants on this home
by many means and under the guise of many rationalizations. And we do our
very best, every nationality all over the world to kill each other, to destroy
other, different cultures at the same time, all through the eons of time, again
by many and any means and again under guise of many rationalizations. It
is not logical and we, homo sapiens are a very strange species, indeed to
behave and act in such a manner. It is like we, as a species are adamant,
whether it is a conscious act or an act buried deep in our psyche about
bringing about our own extinction.
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~7~
Taliban Victimizes Animals, Too
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/274/nation/For_refugees_a_narrow_escape+.shtml
The Taliban
fighters herded hundreds of frightened people into the center of the
war-ravaged town of Taloqan and paraded out three dogs costumed in Western
neckties and waistcoats.
The Taliban had shaved the heads of the three dogs and painted names of the men
the regime most despises -- "Bush" for the US president,
"king" for the long-deposed monarch whom some want to return to
power, and "Rabbani," referring to Burhanuddin Rabbani, a leader of
the anti-Taliban Northern Alliance.
The regional Taliban commander, Arif Khan, took out a can of gasoline, doused
the animals, and then, according to eyewitnesses, lit a match, proclaiming,
"This is what we do to the dogs who oppose Islam!"
Those who did not cheer the immolation of the animals were beaten with sticks,
the witnesses said.
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~8~
Osama
Bin Laden
by Gael Murphy - FLVoices@aol.com
Osama Bin Laden,
May his tribe reform.
Began to hate Yanks,
When we fought Desert Storm.
We stationed our troops,
In the deserts of Saudi,
And our female recruits,
Were immodest and rowdy.
They refused to wear burkas,
From their heads to their towses,
And instead of Mohammed,
They liked Jesus and Moses.
In Mecca's direction,
They never once bowed,
And our win in Kuwait,
Made them boastful and proud.
When we drove Sadam Hussein,
In disgrace from Kuwait,
That just made Bin Laden,
And his cohorts irate.
He yelled "Infidels this"
He screamed, "Infidels that",
And he pouted and cursed,
Like a rich spoiled brat.
He had to retreat,
And hide out with Afghanis,
When this creep, once elite,
Was disowned by his granny.
The cruel taliban
Set doggies on fire
and they brutilized women
who wore wrong attire.
Osama was teaching
The virtue of hate,
To young boys who believed,
That to die was their fate
In the guise of religion
In camps and in caves,
He misused the Koran,
to make men into slaves.
He sent little boys,
On a mission of terror,
He thought that would scare us,
And that was his error.
They hijacked four planes,
They knocked down our towers,
They killed lots of folks,
So we marshalled our powers.
We sent over ships.
We sent missiles and tanks,
And the many new soldiers,
Who signed up in our ranks.
And again in our troops,
Were both Sammys and Sadies,
Whose weapons will teach them,
Not to beat up on ladies.
To the poor refugees,
We were humanitarian,
We bombed them with food,
That was pure vegetarian.
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~9~
Memorable Quote
People are unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered,
Love them anyway.
If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish motives,
Do good anyway.
If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies,
Succeed anyway.
Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable,
Be honest and frank anyway.
What you spent years building may be destroyed over night,
Build anyway.
People really need help, but may attack you if you help them,
Help people anyway.
Give the world the best you have and you'll get kicked in the teeth,
Give the world the best you have anyway.
~~ Mother Teresa
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Susan Roghair - EnglandGal@aol.com
Animal Rights Online
P O Box 7053
Tampa, Fl 33673-7053
http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/1395/
-=Animal Rights Online=-
&
Advisory Board Member, Animal Rights Network Inc.,
not-for-profit publisher of The Animals' Agenda Magazine
http://www.animalsagenda.org/
The Animals' Agenda Magazine: WebEdition
«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»
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