Does anyone know if PETA has ever used a naked man in their "I'd rather go naked..." campaign? Not that it's going to make me being any less annoyed by PETA but it would be interesting to know.

And on a completely unrelated note, I do agree that fur is gross and I don't wear it but I think it's silly to buy synthetic leather instead of the real thing. From a purely environmentalist standpoint, I think it's better to wear something made of dead animal matter and will eventually break down than buy shoes that are plastic based and will never biodegrade, like pleather...

naked men do exist in Peta ads. I always want to hug PETA people as they are so well intentioned, and just so *wrong*.

Eh and pleather may not easily biodegrade, but it can be recycled :P. Heheh.

triskelion, I agree. I knit, and I try to use actual wool, even though a lot of vegan people who knit use synthetics. The acrylics will take forever to break down and will release chemicals as they do, which damages the environment for... animals.

VIVA LE PICNIC!
It's not just their models they harass!

They're both awful companies and they really just deserve each other D:

Color me completely unsurprised.

And can we get a reaction to their Worst Dress List verbiage? This was my blog entry:

PETA has its blinders on so bad, it has truly become a source of hate speech against women.

I'm so sick of their crap, and I am a vegetarian and yes, I whole-heartedly believe in the go-green cruelty-free hype machine. But how can you claim to be pro compassion, pro dignity, and pro respect when you publish THIS about Aretha Franklin:

"Aretha, when you waddled into the Grammys in yet another vulgar fur, you looked as if you were going to perform "I Am the Walrus" by The Beatles."

Now, what does that sentence have to do with cruelty to animals? Nothing. It is just criticizing a woman about her body. Their whole game is pretending that being a vegetarian will make you skinny and sexy (it won't), and doing otherwise will make you a walrus, a "street walker" (Eva Longoria) and a "tramp" (Kate Moss) -- in other words, a physically repulsive, sexually tainted woman. Oh how progressive!

That billboard they did which compared prostitutes murdered by a serial killer to pigs... That made me want to eat endangered species and wear mink.
This is pathetic too.

A quick word from a Riot Grrl about suicide girls:

I spent about 8 years of my life doing nothing but going to punk shows. My 3 friends and I that made the "scene" - or whatever - our life had to constantly fight the conception that we were there to boink the bands. We liked the energy, the music, and didn't give a crap about trying to get with the band members. Yet, increasingly, punk has started to treat women the way almost all other rock does - like groupie objects.

Suicide Girls does nothing but further the notion that in order to make a name for yourself in the scene, you gatta get naked.

I never understood the facination of the Suicide Girls. Just because they have tattoes and piercings that somehow makes it "cool"? (and yeah, I know they also have the whole, natural bodies thing, but so does Perfect 10).

And Peta does use men in their "I'd rather go naked" however the only ones I've seen have been in group shots, they don't usually build a campagin around men. It would be interesting to see someone like Jauquin Pheonix (sp?) doing one of those ads.

Alright, I admit . . . I did glance at a few, yes a few, imageries of SG individuals. BUT needless to say my photography enhanced mind truly captures not the "porn" initiative but the beauty in front of the lens and never truly going further into depth. Yes, now that I think of how disturbing it is. None the less, those 30+ women who quit decided to quit for reasons of inferiority towards a man . . . A man. A man with a penis, brain, hands, eyes, heart? but mostly a penis that then can attract other penises. BUT that is only hear say due to my powerful hatred towards the opposite gender. Yes, I know . . . . . Give’em a break? None the less porn in itself is ridiculous. Look at Girls Gone Wild, College Girls, and the enormous of porn indicating women as lesser value. A god awful insight of how desperate the industry truly is. Captivating by flaw. I disapprove of the lack of value porn holds as well as the lack of value some women can put themselves in. . . .bigger breasts, lips, softer skin (My mom has thankfully blessed me with soft baby touched skin, THANKS MOMMY!). My point i'm trying to make here is basically porn has major side effects . . . . AND WHO IS BEHIND THE SCENE MOST OF THE TIME?!?!?! MEN!!! MEN!!! AND MORE MEN!! But to those woman who do Suicide Girls, I do not find it as a crime, more or less just furthered art . . . . In the beginning. . Now, I have lost my thought of concentration. . . .Also the name Suicide Girls, it’s quite horrific in itself.

i still don't get how suicidegirls represents "alternative beauty"? They're still the same just add some tatoos and piercings. Half the time, that is still the standard of beauty.

and Margaret, I agree with you. It seems like any girl in the music scene is now seen as the "groupie" who's only intention is to sleep with the band. Its pretty bad.

Suzy and Margaret, right on...
I watched the movie American Hardcore about the early hardcore punk movement and one of the women from the Boston scene mentioned that back then, the thing that would earn you the least respect was acting like a groupie by flashing or hooking up with the band. And all I could think was, wow, that must have been so great.

Anyway. I don't care for SG or PETA. I sure do like tattoo and tofu. But I saw some feminist punk love in the comments and wanted in.

They are using sex to sell what, for most people, is a values-based decision. Vegetarianism isn't a body spray, or a car. You don't just purchase it: you have to think about it and do it right or you could end up being pretty unhealthy (not that people inherently fair better on meat-based diets). If you do it because it's "hot" or "sexy" or "rebellious," what is the likelihood it's going to be a sustained choice? I've found most people revert from vegetarianism, or vacillate a lot, even when their choice is based on ethics, environmentalism, or other values. People who do it because it's trendy don't stand a chance.

I'm a vegetarian and I've stuck with it for 6+ years so far, and I don't have a problem with people who stop or stop and start. But, as an organization supposedly dedicated to a cause, you would think they'd want to dedicate at least some energy to building up vegetarianism as a sustainable choice.

Not that I expect PETA to be subtle. They are a group entirely built on emotional reactions-- they shove horrific pictures in your face to provoke your disgust and pity, and now it seems like they're using those pictures to chase you away from consuming animals, and towards consuming women. Not much of an improvement in my book.

The Suicide Girls are LAME. Look at the site, and what do you see? A skinny white chick in her 20s, a skinny white chick in her 20s... oh look! Another skinny white chick in her 20s. I'm supposed to find them "alternative" because they have tattoos and piercings? That's rather quaint, it's not like those things are shocking any more.

A true alternative would be having some women of color, over 30 years of age, and different sizes. They get no respect from me until they mix it up a little.

Right on, lizadilly. I noticed that bullshit on the PETA website also. In addition to what you cited, the PETA website also encourages visitors to "check out all the hags who made our 'Worst-Dressed' list." Hags? Talk about sexist, anti-woman language! Now who doesn't "know jack about compassion"?

Suicide Girls also pisses me off. Just mainstream porn in Hot Topic clothing. And anything presenting itself as alternative should definitely have some male models, in my opinion. But I guess that wouldn't jive with the name...

PETA is horrible. Don't put stock in anything they do.

I'd rather wear fur and eat meat than watch bad porn.

I'd rather go naked than...wait. It's the Suicide Girls. They'd just rather go naked.

I mean this going nude isn't actually a feat for the Suicide Girls. Does that not make the entire point of the ads moot altogether?

"Hey I'm a Suicide Girl, I'll take it off for animal rights, men, sometimes women, chocolate, good music at the bar, and on those days all my panties are dirty and I don't feel like doing laundry. Yes! I'd rather go naked than go to the Washateria."

Their whole game is pretending that being a vegetarian will make you skinny and sexy (it won't), and doing otherwise will make you a walrus, a "street walker" (Eva Longoria) and a "tramp" (Kate Moss) -- in other words, a physically repulsive, sexually tainted woman.

And mentally ill; don't forget mentally ill. The president of PETA sent Britney Spears' parents an odious spankletter blaming her suicide attempt on her dairy consumption.

" I'd rather go naked than...wait. It's the Suicide Girls. They'd just rather go naked.

I mean this going nude isn't actually a feat for the Suicide Girls. Does that not make the entire point of the ads moot altogether?

"Hey I'm a Suicide Girl, I'll take it off for animal rights, men, sometimes women, chocolate, good music at the bar, and on those days all my panties are dirty and I don't feel like doing laundry. Yes! I'd rather go naked than go to the Washateria." "

'Cause, you know, sex workers are deviants and deserve your disrespect. We're all sitting around waiting for someone to give us reason to strip or fuck., as that's ALL we do. Second/third-class citizenship is the proper result of choosing to make a living with one's body.

SG is a hot mess and full of drama (on and off their site), but making comments like this about Suicide Girls or any sex worker or model or other person who makes money with her/his body is distinctly anti-feminist, not to mention classist.

I'd rather go naked than...wait. It's the Suicide Girls. They'd just rather go naked.

I mean this going nude isn't actually a feat for the Suicide Girls. Does that not make the entire point of the ads moot altogether?

"Hey I'm a Suicide Girl, I'll take it off for animal rights, men, sometimes women, chocolate, good music at the bar, and on those days all my panties are dirty and I don't feel like doing laundry. Yes! I'd rather go naked than go to the Washateria."

Wow. Funny, I thought this was a feminist site. You do realize that there are more than a thousand models on the site, and you just made a huge generalization about a group of women you likely no little about besides their decision to pose nude? Perhaps you should familiarize yourself with the meaning of the word "moot." It does not mean "mute," as some people seem to use it, but rather open to debate, and purely academic. So I suppose you may be right. Your slut shaming may not be of any actual value to women who choose to work in the sex industry (in any capacity) and only of interest to other slut shamers.

It's depressing to see this sort of hypocrisy on Feministing.

(For the record, I'm one of those "hot messes" and so my opinion is clearly not objective)

My comment didn't express what I was meaning upon rereading it. I apologize for offending anyone.

Basically my point was that it doesn't make sense to use sex workers on ads like these. Because they would get naked anyway. It's not a feat for someone that does porn pics to get naked for animals or anything else.

So who cares if they do it this time for animals. They will do it next time for 100 bucks. That's what they do. If you find pointing that out wrong, you are the one that has a problem with sex/porn workers, not I. That's what they do in that industry, get naked for money.

General actresses/models I can see it making sense for them to use them in these ads since they don't strip and do things nude all the time the way these girls do. It's unexpected and making a statement.

Classist? Only if you feel that way yourself.

Antifeminist? Perhaps the way I first wrote it because I was not clear and it looked as thought I was making a crude statement about sex workers rather than the ads themselves. As I said I apologize.

1. Oy vey. If you are one of those "hot messes," you really do have a problem, as SG is more distinctly racist and anti-feminist than Feministing could ever be. Also, they're flat out abusive of their models.

2. Despite what they try to tell you in their marketing, SG is an amateur site, even going as far as punishing models who attempt to further actual careers by posing with anybody else. I'd be hard-pressed to classify these women as sex workers, unless they do actual sex work outside of SG.

3. SG markets its girls (and judging by their journals the girls buy into this marketing and act it out) as drunken sluts, punk rock style. To proudly identify as a Suicide Girl is often accompanied by a certain prociivity towards getting naked under many and varied circumstances, for good reasons or based on a simple excuse.

To state this as fact is not to judge anybody for it. I like being naked too. But I don't pretend it's an earth-shattering feat.

4. I'm not sure there was anything particularly offensive about Siren's comment. I'd make the same joke about myself, and I'm not even on SG (anymore). Certainly, with the further explanation, it becomes clear that Siren is awesome and nobody needs to accuse her of slut-shaming.

5. Slut-shaming is not the same thing as being anti-sex work, sex workers willing to talk about how much they love sex work are not being oppressed and silenced, and you need to stop looking for statements that allow you to pretend you're being persecuted.

I would have to agreen with most of the ladies here... Suicide Girls and PETA are both bad ideas. I worked in a bookstore one summer and PETA people came in, hiding propaganda in children's books and comics throughout the store. A five year old girl saw one and nearly fainted... you can only imagine the slew of livid parents. They open Olivia the Pig or a book of fairy tales to read to their child and are greeted with "Your Mommy Killed Twenty Bunnies to Make Her Jacket", complete with pictures of violated animals and a white woman covered in blood on the back flap.

And Suicide Girls... I am a curvaceous African American woman who has been accepted to the site several times, but my feminist conscience won't let me do it. I'm torn between my politics and the desire to display the REAL alternative kinds of beauties out there. If you all want to see true alt people in your nudie pics, try www.nofauxxx.com.

The answer to porn culture is NOT more porn, no matter how "alternative" it claims to be. We live in an image based culture and we need to grow out of that, detox from our reliance on images... images of women-pornified. I can't wait for this "feminist" porn trend to be over. Let's honestly look at the porn-culture mess we're in right now and create resistance instead of making more of it.