Stockholm Syndrome in the Media

Absolutely fantastic, amazingly well written, concise and illuminating post on Feministing.com, one of my favorite blogs.

Here is a short snippet:

Like an iron grip in a velvet glove, the hypersexualization of girls in the media holds actual girls hostage under the pretense of entertaining and informing them. And, like in the Stockholm Syndrome, it's not surprising when girls start to identify with the all-powerful culture that's holding them hostage.

It feels more subtle than verbal or physical harassment, but that's part of its stealthy effect. It's like a neverending buzz in the background that you try to ignore but can't. Gradually, sub-consciously, more and more of your energy and attention is spent on trying to ignore the buzz.
Girls are barraged by sexualized images all around them and everyone they come into contact with in daily life is also surrounded by those images. The images viscerally teach "the importance of being sexy" if you are female. The images teach all of us that acting sexy is how girls/women can have power without being rejected as domineering or bitchy (see media coverage of Hillary Clinton for the way "non-sexy" female power is conveyed).

Please go read the rest of this very important piece.

The Great In-Vitro Meat Debate

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has announced that they are offering a 1 million dollar prize for the first person to create ‘in-vitro chicken flesh’. According to PETA ‘in-vitro meat’ would ‘spare animals from suffering’ and ‘dramatically reduce the devastating effects the meat industry has on the environment’. In the next paragraph of their announcement PETA also states that ‘of course, humans don’t need to eat meat at all – and a terrific array of vegetarian mock meats already exist. But as many people continue to refuse to kick their meat addictions, PETA is willing to help them gain access to flesh that doesn’t cause suffering and death.’

First of all, does PETA not even pretend to care about animals any more? Is the ruse up? This search for creepy in-vitro meat is just about as resounding an endorsement for testing on animals as I’ve ever heard. Where do they expect to get these stem cells? Are mother chickens just going to be lining up begging to be the first in line to get prodded and poked by masked scientists wielding bloody scalpels and painful electrodes?

The way PETA announces this barbaric contest makes it sound so simple and easy, but the glossy words and zippy slogans skillfully mask the painful truth: creating in-vitro meat from animal stem cells will require years of using and experimenting on live animals. Both the agricultural and scientific communities have abysmal animal rights records and will not shy away from using, killing, and discarding animal lives without a second thought. And PETA, arguably the most famous ‘animal advocacy’ group in the world is sponsoring this holocaust.

PETA believes that the availability of this in-vitro flesh will ultimately save the lives of animals because it will diminish the demand for traditionally grown animal meat. But, look a little bit closer at their original announcement and you can see how they clearly contradict themselves in typical PETA fashion. “A terrific array of vegetarian mock meats already exist.” Hmmmm. So, PETA, are you telling me that the public already has access to meat like alternatives and still they are not giving up their flesh habits? And yet you really think that what the people need is just one more option to finally renounce their omnivorous ways once and for all?

Really?

Get real!

The reason that people eat meat is because of the socially supported, culturally intrinsic notion that animals are ours to use in any way that we see fit. By providing yet another alternative to the already bountiful array of mock meats that exist today PETA will be doing absolutely nothing to strike at the root of the problem: the idea that animals exist solely to be used by humans.

Ingrid Newkirk, one of the founders and current President of PETA, is quoted as saying: “People say animal rights people can’t agree. Well, human beings can’t agree. In any social cause community, there are people who strive for purity. We don’t mind taking uncomfortable positions if it means that fewer animals suffer.”

First of all, I resent her implication that my abhorrence of in-vitro meat comes from a desire for ‘personal purity.’ I am not a vegan because I don’t want any ‘icky animal products in my body’. I am a vegan because animals are not ours to eat. Implicit in my statement, I hope, is the notion that animals are also not ours to use, experiment on, abuse, torture, harvest stem cells from, etc.

That is where I stand when it comes to the in-vitro meat debate. Being a Vegan, a believer in social justice of all kinds, for all sentient creatures, and a defender of universal animal rights, I cannot and will not ever support the infliction of yet another holocaust on the exhausted and brutalized non-human animal community of this abused earth. As Vegans this is a stand we must take. PETA has sent out a message to the world ( a world that typically sees PETA as the most radical ‘animal-rights’ group there is) reinforcing the idea that it is okay to eat animal flesh, and it is okay to experiment on animals if it is for the greater good. Well, I have news for PETA: the ends do not justify the means. They never have and they never will.

1 million dollars is a lot of money and it will buy a lot of tortured, scared and abused animals for the scientific community to experiment on. But think of what it could have done. What sort of campaign could the brilliant minds in the animal rights community have thought up to reveal to the public just how unnecessary animal flesh is for the human body? How many farmed animals could have been rescued and given sanctuary? How many children could have been taken on tours of an animal sanctuary, fed nutritious vegan lunches and given classes on animal rights theory? What if PETA had used this money to launch a national, mainstream advertising campaign revealing the horrors of the dairy industry? Or offered the one million dollar prize to a truly vegan aspiring chef? So many what ifs, so many what could have beens.

However, this shouldn’t be a time to hang our heads in sadness, or shake our fists in anger. This is a time when we need to stand up and make our voices heard. We cannot wither in silence. Let the world know what is inside of you. Let them hear your voice.

Write to PETA here.

"Don't you think you're taking it just a little too far?"

One of the first things people ask me when they find out that I am a vegan is ‘Don’t you think you're taking it just a little too far?’ This question is usually coupled with a pitying look, a raised eyebrow and a disapproving cluck of the tongue. How do you even answer a question like that? Obviously I don’t think I’m taking it too far, or I probably wouldn’t have made the choice to become a Vegan in the first place. I am a vegan because it is the only sane and logical way for me to live my life.

Let’s just take a look at the question, shall we? “Don’t you think you’re taking it just a little too far?” What do you suppose they mean by it? What exactly is this thing that I am taking too far? Is it my devotion to living a cruelty free life? Perhaps my dedication to non-violence? Or is it my compassion that I am carelessly running amok with?

“Taking it too far” implies that I have crossed some sort of threshold, passed an invisible line. Apparently a certain amount of compassion and non-violence is acceptable and even something to be desired, but once you exceed this level of socially acceptable non-violence you have crossed the line and entered the dreaded zone of ‘gone too far’.

But why would anyone think there was a line to cross or a threshold to surpass in the first place? The question “Don’t you think you are taking it just a little too far?” blatantly implies that human beings will only accept so much compassion before they deem it ludicrous and borderline absurd. Too much compassion is seen as inconvenient, over-dramatic and extreme. The same people who call fur coats barbaric will happily prance around in shiny leather loafers and order pasta carbonara for dinner, pleased with themselves for living a socially acceptable compassionate life.

Is it really possible that we live in a world where an ‘excess of compassion’ is derided, insulted and shunned? Yes. We do. It is not cool to be compassionate, it is not desirable to think of others, and it is definitely not glamorous to think and plan and live a life dedicated to eliminating oppression and violence of all kinds. It just requires far too much thinking and since it can’t be compressed into a snappy 30 second sound bite for The Daily Show, it obviously isn’t worth any real consideration.

By being a Vegan I have bull-dozed across the line that our society strictly defines and fiercely guards. My compassion has overflowed and no longer fits into the strict confines of what has been deemed acceptable by our society and that is threatening to people. It fundamentally disrupts the perceived order of the world and apparently that is terrifying.

There are no boundaries in my vision, no borders in my heart and therefore there is no line that I can cross, much less even see. To me compassion is truly fulfilling its intended role and is boundless and eternal. But many people that I talk to have strictly delineated their hearts and their minds, borders criss-cross their psyches and divide their souls. Until I come along, they are not even aware that they are living in a checkerboard of hypocrisy, their entire world divided into safety zones of white and black zones of hypocrisy and guilt that they never even acknowledge. And that isn’t really their fault. The world we live in makes it nearly impossible to disconnect yourself from the keg-stand of gluttonous consumerism that we are all drowning in. Our society is set up in such a way that we never have to question anything; we never have to put ourselves in the shoes of another person. After all, what would be the fun in that? It definitely wouldn’t make a very exciting reality t.v. show and it definitely won’t sell albums. If we had to feel sympathy and empathize with everyone how could we exploit them? What would we do for entertainment? How could we continue to live our lives of ease, stuffing our faces with cheesy fries and only worrying about who will win American Idol?

When I talk to people about Veganism I turn on a light inside their head and reveal to them the concertina wires, guard towers and border patrols that rule their minds and dictate their thoughts. For one shocking second they realize the hypocrisy that forms a fundamental aspect of their daily lives and they become angry at me, downright hostile. That is what the question of ‘taking it too far’ is really about. These people are mad at me for holding up a mirror and waking them up to their hypocritical slumber. They hate me for disregarding society’s expectations and they resent me for the inevitable feelings of guilt they experience after facing reality. When I awaken them from the safety of their drugged stupor their fear and anger cause them to lash out at me. “Don’t you think you’re taking it too far?” I am in their eyes a dissenter, a traitor, who needs to be reminded of her place. “Get back in line!” Is what that question really means. “Stop rocking the boat!” Is what that question really means. “Don’t make me think for myself!” Is what that question really means. “Don’t you think you’re taking it too far?” Is never a sincere question, no one ever cares to hear my answer. It is meant to be hostile, it is meant to make me look like an idiot, it is meant to single me out and make me an example of what might happen to anyone else stupid enough to think for themselves. “Don’t be like her! Do you want to look like an ostracized idiot?” It is their final ploy, their last ditch effort to shove me to the ground and knock the light out of my soul. But they can’t. They never even had a chance. Compassion isn’t something that can be annulled. You can’t reverse backwards over this line. You can never go too far.

My Beginning...

Being a Vegan is one of the most powerful aspects of my life. It is central to everything that is me, and all of my ideals and hopes and aspirations radiate from it. Becoming a Vegan transformed my life and I cannot wrap my head around the fact that I was ever lived any differently. It seems so fundamental and basic that it is inconceivable to me that there is another way to be. In fact, sometimes when I’m at the grocery store I will see something, maybe a frozen pizza or a scrumptious dessert or a can of chilli, which looks absolutely delicious, so I’ll grab it and pop it into my cart. It’s only a few minutes later when I’m already aisles away that I will realize “Oh wait! That’s probably not soy cheese and faux meat! What was I thinking!?” And then I’ll have to retrace my steps and put the items back where I got them. But it always serves as a wake up call to me. I get so wrapped up in my vegan head that sometimes it doesn’t occur to me that people would even make things out of animal products anymore, or that anyone would actually pay money for death and pain. But I know that it wasn’t so long ago that I was one of those people. This is my story:

I was always a compassionate child, over sensitive some people said. I refused to choose favorites among my stuffed animals and dolls because I didn’t want to hurt their feelings and make them feel unworthy. The classic Disney movie Dumbo was so traumatizing to me that my parents wouldn’t let me watch it again. In 2^nd grade I did a science experiment for school in which I was supposed to test whether plants grew faster if they were talked to nicely versus being not talked to at all, when all other variables were the same. But at night, I would lie in bed and cry, thinking about how the ignored plants must feel and inevitably I would slide quickly out of bed and dash into the kitchen, where the plants were being kept, and I would grab them into my arms and whisper words of love into their beautiful green fronds, assuring them that I really loved them just as much as the other plants.

I grew up in a house filled with dogs that were not seen as ‘pets’ but as full fledged members of our family. They travelled with us around the world, to 4 different continents, and dozens of different countries. They slept in our beds at night and spent their days being loved on and cuddled.

I adopted dozens of baby birds that had fallen from the next too young and tried valiantly to nurse each of them back to health. I had a dismal success rate but my passion for trying, for valuing each tiny life as something worth saving, never waned. My family rode horses and I would spend hours with my arms wrapped around the strong, warm next, stroking their coarse manes and murmurning made up songs into their twitching ears. Animals were my best friends. At times, my only friends. And I loved them more than anything.

The thought of another person or animal feeling fear or loneliness hurt me more than anything, and I worried constantly that I had inadvertently made someone upset by something I had said or done, or that I hadn’t paid enough attention to our two little poodles that day. I knew what it felt like to be abandoned and alone, terrified and filled with fear and I was incapable of allowing that to happen to another living thing (or inanimate thing, in the case of my stuffed animals!)

I knew from a very young age that I wanted to spend my life helping animals and speaking out for a better world. But growing up in Saudi Arabia and attending university in Texas hadn’t exactly provided me with a fertile landscape with which to meet liberal, open minded thinkers. I had never met a vegetarian, much less a vegan. I had been a vegetarian for a while when I was a child, but of course as time goes by and family pressures won out, it was forgotten. But during university in Texas I began volunteering actively at a no-kill animal shelter and feeling empowered and joyful and finally on the right track. “This is it; this is what I can do with the rest of my life!” I wanted to make it my career to ensure that animals never felt afraid, ever again. I was in the kitchen one night cooking dinner after a long day of walking dogs at the shelter, chopping up a piece of chicken flesh to throw in the frying pan. I dropped something and bent to the floor to pick it up and I remember that very moment just as clearly as if it had happened yesterday. I sat down hard on the cold tile floor. What was I doing? Was I seriously humming happily to myself just thinking of all the dogs I had played with and loved on today and planning my future devoting myself to their care while chopping up a tiny defenseless chicken?

I was a hypocrite. I wish I could say that I never ate meat again, but I did. For several more weeks I went on with life just like normal but the idea was there and it wouldn’t stop shrieking at me. I kept bringing it up to friends and family, just testing it out in my mind, practicing the words in my mouth. Could I do this? Could I really do this? Of course at the time I thought I could be a vegetarian and that would be sufficient. So one day I was on the internet and looked up vegetarianism. I watched Meet Your Meat and sobbed for an hour. I was hysterical. I wanted to rip my computer to shreds and take to the streets and scream at people and stop it all right that instant. How could this have been happening? Didn’t anyone know? Was this really legal? I was outraged and disgusted at myself. I felt sick to my stomach and outraged. I ran downstairs and told my fiancé that I was a vegetarian and I was never going back to eating meat. He was shocked by emotions and asked to watch the video with me. We cried together that time, hating ourselves for ever being so blind. For allowing ourselves to be so ignorant.

After talking about the video and acknowledging the fact that we were now vegetarians, I remember him clearly asking “We can still eat eggs and cheese, right?” I paused, confused. “I’m sure we can, that doesn’t kill animals. Does it?” A minute later I was looking up the dairy industry and the egg industry on-line and moments after that a fresh round of tears was streaming down my face. In the span of one hour I had gone from being a bacon inhaling omnivore, to a vegetarian, to something call ‘a vegan.’

But never in my life had I done something that felt so right. It was so clear. There was absolutely no moral middle ground. This decision was final, irrevocable, unyielding, uncompromising and unchanging. From that very second I have not knowingly eaten another animal product.

My life has transformed. The physical benefits are amazing, asthma and allergies cleared up, I have not been sick once since becoming a Vegan, my migraines are fading, etc. But honestly, none of that holds a candle to the mental and spiritual transformation. I am whole. I am finally whole. My heart is complete. To walk this path is to know what is right. To know what is true. I cry just thinking about how I used to be, how much was hidden from me, how much I kept hidden from myself. It wasn’t until I became Vegan that I realized how limited my love had previously been. Even if it is just subconscious, your heart always knows that you are a hypocrite when you are not vegan. You can spend your life saving puppies and kitties and horses, but if you are going home at night and eating a steak or a cheese pizza, your heart will never be whole. It cannot be whole because the pain would be too great. As sentient beings we have feelings and love and gentleness, it is innate in our souls. Even when it is buried down deep the fundamental knowledge that you are devouring the flesh of a defenseless animal hurts the psyche profoundly and forces us to shut off a part of our brain and close down a portion of our heart. Denying this gentle, compassionate aspect of ourselves over and over and over again, every day, numbs our feelings and the best parts of ourselves. We don’t even know this is happening most of the time. We’ve been doing it since we were babies and we are conditioned to never think of it and never question it. But we know. We always know. Now, as a Vegan, my heart can know itself in its entirety, there is nothing I have to hide because I don’t do anything that causes me guilt or sadness or pain. I am a hypocrite no longer. I am whole.

Let it begin...

The Vegan Revolution is coming. Can you hear it? Can you feel it?

Revolution: a sudden, radical, or complete change, a fundamental change in the way of thinking about or visualizing something : a change of paradigm.

This very moment in history is epic. People will look back on this time and shake their heads in awe and gratitude, silently thanking us for the work that we are now doing, for the lives that we are now changing, for the daily protest that we are now living.

The Vegan Revolution is a synthesis of animal rights, GLBTQ rights, feminism and liberation and freedom of all kinds because it is my firm belief that you cannot have one without the other. To be a vegan does not just mean to stop using animal products. In my heart, the true definition of a Vegan is a person who has devoted their life to freedom, joy, revolution, passion and defending the rights of everyone else on this planet.

We have already made dramatic and life changing progress, but there is still much to be done.

The Vegan Revolution will not be complete until every living creature on Earth is free to live without violence, without oppression, without fear, without coercion, without poverty, without hunger, and with the grace and joy that comes with knowing that you are free to live the life that you want to lead. And this blog is my effort to chronicle, examine, and analyze the work that we are doing and the changes we are inspiring. Please join me in celebrating, arguing, laughing, debating, thinking, mourning, rejoicing and living The Vegan Revolution.