Amanda Palmer has posted an open letter of complaint to the animal rights organisation PETA on her Tumblr.
In it, she rightly takes issue with a new advert run by PETA featuring the model and actress Joanna Krupa (see below), stating that: "this ad is perpetuating really unhealthy attitudes. fear and unhappiness in the body-hair department is becoming more and more prevalent in young girls (and all women), because they feel they have no alternative […] PETA, if you care about animals, and their health and overall happiness index, take your human animals into account alongside the rest of them."
Responding to the criticisms, Abi Izzard, special projects coordinator at PETA, told us: "Joanna Krupa is fearlessly committed to helping PETA point out that even the smallest amount of fur causes massive amounts of suffering for the animals who are caged, electrocuted and even skinned alive on fur farms. Joanna’s ad for PETA humorously shows that wearing someone else’s fur is always absurd and unattractive, no matter where you wear it."
Palmer’s full statement runs:
"dear PETA,
this ad is really upsetting.
you’re implying that pubic hair that shows/grows “outside the pantyline” (which is normal/natural for the vast majority of us gals) is “unattractive”….this is the kind of shit Gillette and Nair would pull to hock product, and the sort of cultural beauty-standard malarkey that is contributing to a generally worrying trend…12 and 13 year old girls demanding full bikini waxes and all the shit that I think we can all basically agree is absurd.
fur, bad. yes. i’m with you.
but this ad is perpetuating really unhealthy attitudes. fear and unhappiness in the body-hair department is becoming more and more prevalent in young girls (and all women), because they feel they have no alternative. most feel like they’ll be judged if they don’t tow the party line, and an organization like PETA has more cred (you’re somewhat cool, right? you’re forward-thinking people fighting for a noble cause, right?) than a corporate hair-removal/razor company.
despite the strides of progress made by the generation of women who came before us, we’re slipping backwards. the beauty standard is presenting a more and more difficult struggle for young women. ads like this are part of the problem.
PETA, if you care about animals, and their health and overall happiness index, take your human animals into account alongside the rest of them.
compassion for all.
yours,
afp"
Palmer’s recently released her video for ‘Do It With A Rockstar’, co-directed by the Flaming Lips’ Wayne Coyne. It’s labelled NSFW, presumably for that wanton decimation of a smoked sausage. Oh, and the nudity. Watch below:
