Naked carrots won't win many converts to the cause

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Thursday » April 3 » 2008

Naked carrots won't win many converts to the cause

The Ottawa Citizen


Thursday, April 03, 2008


Veganism and animal rights activism are trendy political statements, but what's interesting about this growing community is its increasing tendency to use sex as a proselytizing strategy.

No doubt this reflects a desire to attract men to the cause, but unfortunately it risks trivializing an otherwise serious philosophy, and sends an unhealthy message to young women: Use your body to get your point across, not your brain.

In February, an Oregon vegan opened the Casa Diablo Gentlemen's Club, where the chimichangas are stuffed with soy instead of beef and the strippers wear fake leather known as "pleather." Members of the Los Angeles band Vegan Vixens flaunt their barely covered bodies at animal welfare fundraisers. The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) routinely use sexual images in their campaigns, whether it's Pamela Anderson in a lettuce bikini or former adult film star Jenna Jameson encouraging people to "pleather themselves."

Surely this ought to provoke some cognitive dissonance among members of the movement. Feminism and animal rights have both been associated, traditionally, with the political left. Yet Johnny Diablo, founder of the vegan strip club, referred to his employees as "sex-positive women (who) entertain others in their natural-born clothing."

These so-called vegangelicals are simply new believers of an old concept, that sex sells, something advertisers and the entertainment industry have long known. In 2006, the U.S. pornography industry reaped about $13 billion in profits. By comparison, the Motion Picture Association of America reported that mainstream films finished the year with revenues of $9.5 billion.

You don't have to be a marketing professor to realize that a political movement which is ostentatiously "sex-friendly" and features attractive spokespeople will have an advantage when it comes to recruiting young people, especially young men. A Norwegian environmental group that films its members having sex and charges Internet users $15 to watch on "the only 100-per-cent karma improving eco porn site" earns about $120,000 a year. Most of the money is poured into conservation projects, though some larger environmental organizations, like the World Wildlife Fund, have refused to accept money from the group.

Surely, though, vegans and others who believe in ethical living will grow tired of having their way of life married to pornography. For many thoughtful environmentalists, vegans and animal rights advocates, their belief system is like a religion. It must be frustrating to see it being promoted like cheap beer.

Indeed, some are finally expressing displeasure. On Internet sites and elsewhere, vegans and others are questioning whether such marketing games diminish the seriousness of their cause and values.

Images of sex might be sufficient to draw momentary attention to a cause, but if the real goal is long-term commitment -- real attitudinal change -- ultimately these social movements need to be rooted in richer soil. Getting young men to ogle Pamela Anderson is easy. Promoting a movement ethically and respectfully, without gimmickry, takes time and effort, but in the end the movement will be stronger.



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Debra Probert
Executive Director
Vancouver Humane Society
303-8623 Granville Street
Vancouver, B.C. V6P 5A2
604-266-9744