Raising Awareness is no Excuse
The shield of “raising awareness” comes up a lot in my arguments about PETA tactics. I find no matter what criticism I make about animal charities making boldly destructive moves, the fact they are “raising awareness” seems to make it all okay. Here’s an example from a post called “In Defense of PETA” on Associated Content: Let me begin by noting that I am not a member of PETA, nor do I approve of all their tactics. In fact, I excoriate their financial support of ALF members And turns around to say: But I do believe that their naked protest tactics are often unfairly targeted, especially when other organizations engage in similar—or worse—campaigns….PETA’s naked campaigns are, primarily, for the purpose of raising awareness about the fur industry (although they’ve been known to use nudity for other issues, too.) I’ll admit there are certainly things they (and other groups) do that sometimes cause me to shake my head, but as an activist/vegan I always feel there is no use bashing one another when there are plenty of better ways to spend that energy to help the cause. PETA is made up of hundreds of people who dedicate every waking moment to helping animals. The turnover is very high because the work is very rough. I know I am not going to change your opinion of them, but I would hope you would not bash them publicly as they are just doing the best they can to help animals, and there is no doubt they have more victories for animals than any organization in history.
Interestingly, she begins:
The “raising awareness” claim is comparable to the “no tag backs!” tactic you shouted on the playground in grade school. Once your campaign is raising awareness for whatever it might be, it doesn’t matter how sexist or perverse your campaign is. It doesn’t matter if you invest donations in McDonalds and at least 80 other such companies. It doesn’t matter if you give awards to slaughterhouse designers or advertise for KFC.
The fact is, you’re raising awareness, and for anyone to question you is infighting, divisive, and you are simply stepping on people who are trying to make gradual steps.
You’re raising awareness, but how?
Raising awareness is important. Actually, it’s really important. Raising awareness might be the first, most crucial step in getting your cause started.
Yet raising awareness simply means informing the public that a problem exists. It means nothing more than that. Raising awareness is the bare minimum expectation for a campaign. Can you imagine campaigning for an issue without raising awareness? No? So why are we so quick to excuse theatrics, miseducation, and downright offensive displays because they fall under the umbrella of “raising awareness?”
The issue has gotten so out of hand, awareness raising seems to be the only thing that matters in a campaign anymore. Campaigns are judged in awareness raising as if by some point system. That a campaign is more obtuse or more offensive simply feeds into why it’s so great, for this reason.
I’ve recently had a few exchanges with a PETA apologist who gave me permission to publicly post our conversations alongside my comments.
While this is the opinion of one person, the parts I have excerpted greatly resemble the many opinion pieces I’ve scanned defending PETA and their campaigns. Interestingly, few such pieces actually wholly defend the charity. They even take time to distance themselves from their blatantly offensive nature.
Why, despite this, there remains a strong urge to back the organization is a frustrating mystery to me. However, I get the feeling from discussions on the topic there is a consistent feeling of helpless dependency, as if we need to fear losing our beloved multimillion dollar animal charities. This excerpt from the same letter says it all:
It doesn’t matter what their tactics are, they are “dedicated,” they mean well. They are doing “the best they can.” It doesn’t matter how wrong they might be, they are made up of “hundreds of people.” This is where the motivation to defend PETA comes from. We are infants, we believe we need our multimillion dollar PETA mommy.
This article on the Facebook cartoon profile picture slacktivism takes a similar stance on “raising awareness.” The author says aptly, “RAISING AWARENESS WITHOUT ACTION IS MEANINGLESS.” I agree, but what is more, raising awareness with misdirected action is dangerous.
Yes, PETA certainly raises awareness. There’s no question. However, PETA encourages people to support legislature which strengthens the animal industry and to believe exploitation of animals is morally justified provided it is “humane.” This is the core of PETA.
This is where the PETA movement is sending us. We are immunizing our concern for the plight of animals by supporting a barbaric movement to produce ethical rape, torture, and slavery. We are immunizing the industry from the threat of decreased demand by labeling procedural improvements as welfare victories. Frankly, I don’t want to raise awareness for that.
Do you find yourself encountering the “raising awareness” shield often? Simply memorize this article’s short link: http://vegan.fm/awareness to give to your friend anytime this comes up.
