Quickies
Skepchick Quickies 9.17
- The end of kindness: Weev and the cult of the angry young man – TW. Kathy Sierra gives her first interview since 2007, when she removed her public presence from the internet due to an avalanche of threats, harassment, and having her home address published. From Melanie.
- How to design a city for women – If gender roles were more equal in areas like child care, these design ideas would benefit men as well.
- Topless mermaid protester misunderstands scientists – Oh, PETA. From Elyse. (SFW, toplessness hidden behind sign.)
- Fewer kids dying from horrible diseases – From CriticalDragon1177.
Amanda,
Do the people behind Peta really think they’re going to accomplish anything with these stunts? People are not going to stop eating meat or using animal products if they see a sexy lady in an animal costume.
Their meetings must go something like this: “If we can just find another way to objectify women, the animals will be safe… for now.”
I’m not sure what the fishery scientists expect from PETA. It’s an animal rights organization that doesn’t want people to eat fish. Not surprisingly, they’re protesting an organization of people who raise them for food. Why would they care how old the organization is or how brilliant its members are? There’s no way you can raise and/or harvest animals for food that will make vegetarian activists say it’s OK. It’s like trying to persuade pacifists not to protest an arms show by explaining them how well their bombs are designed.
@criticaldragon1177: What do they think they’ll accomplish? The same thing every protestor thinks they’ll accomplish. They’re trying to draw attention to their cause. They’re trying to make sure those they oppose understand that there are people against them. What’s so hard to understand about that?
I mean really–drawing on their authority and tradition as reasons why they should be exempt from criticism is as irrational as it gets. They work in the interests of humans who use fish for pleasure and profit, they are not working in the interests of fish. They use science to perpetuate more violence against fish, their interest in maintaining fish populations is only so they can continue to hurt and kill them. So, yeah, no shit PETA is picketing.
Now whether or not they should be objectifying women is another ball game. Nobody but PETA thinks that’s a good idea.
I propose the following edit:
“They’re trying to draw attention to THEMSELVES. They’re trying to make sure those they oppose understand that there are RIDICULOUS CLOWNS against them.”
I agree with groups like PETA or Code Pink on a lot of issues, but groups like these do nothing but make a mockery of their causes with stupid stunts like this. If the average person who sees your protest thinks, “What a bunch of idiots,” they’re sure as hell not going to join your side. When your stunt simultaneously aggravates potential allies (e.g. a lot of animal rights supporters are feminists and vice versa,) it almost seems like you’re trying to maximize the damage to your cause. If you’re yelling on the street corner, and you don’t care about changing people’s minds, why are you there? To get attention.
Hey PETA:
smbc-comics.com/index.php?id=3105#comic