No wonder American journalism is in trouble if reporters like Robin Givhan, Washington Post fashion editor who won the 2006 Pulitzer Prize for Criticism for (“witty, closely observed essays that transform fashion criticism into cultural criticism”) writes such inaccurate drivel as
All consumers negotiate some sort of moral stance on animal life. A few take the position that no animal should suffer in their name and they eat brown rice and broccoli, skip putting honey in their tea, wear canvas shoes and shun products that have been tested on animals. These are people who refuse to swat flies but, rather, try to graciously usher them to the nearest open window.
But she got two things right. First, the only reason to wear fur is for its elitist status.
The wearer knows that it was her reward for a promotion or for running a marathon or putting the kid through college. It’s not just a coat that’s being purchased — it’s everything that the coat stands for. It doesn’t matter if the fur is as garish as a Ferrari or as ostentatious as a Hummer. It doesn’t matter if it marks the wearer as an arriviste. That, after all, is often the point.
The second thing is this,
Until anti-fur groups find a way to alter that [elite status] message, the fur business will continue to thrive.
But isn’t that what we’ve been trying to do for decades? To make fur unfashionable? It’s succeeded with some but not with others. Givhan is partially correct. And, why we, the animal rights movement, is only partially correct, too. In other words, we need to expand the frame of the anti-fur campaign from one of optional cruelty-free lifestyle choice to also include the arena of public policy and legislation. Yes, keep the publicity stunts going.
But what keeps the Grumpy Vegan optimistic on the anti-fur campaign is such initiatives as HSUS’s pressuring the Federal Trade Commission to enforce the Fur Products Labeling Act against 14 major retailers and designers concerning false advertising and false labeling of fur garments.
Fashion is fickle and unenforceable. Legislation mandates behavior and is enforceable.
Here lies the challenge of the animal rights movement.
