Happy to share my newest post on the Ms. Blog–a round-up of reactions to PETA’s latest ad campaign. At first I felt my worlds colliding with this one. I’ve been vegetarian for 23 years and recently transitioned to veganism. I identify as both a feminist and domestic violence survivor. I have a vegan husband and we have many friends at PETA. I risk losing some of my social support group in voicing dissent, but the truth is, this is not worlds colliding–we all live in the same world. I appreciate the hard work of animal rights activists. I admire shedding light on truth. The movement throws the phrase “cruelty-free” around, mostly in labeling food and fashion. I want cruelty-free ads, language, behavior and thoughts, as well. We are imperfect; these are qualities I am constantly working to nurture within myself. PETA can do better, too.
Archive for the 'activism' Category
PETA/Ms. article
Sister Spit
Had so much fun as part of Sister Spit’s performance at the University of Maryland last night. I was honored to be one of the guests, reading among an incredibly talented bunch of freethinkers, poets, photographers and artists. Plus, check out the beautiful poster made for the event by Grace Toulotte! I got MINES signed by the whole crew (‘cept Ali, who was out sick, and Blake Nelson, who temporarily left the tour for a conference).
Their magical tour van may be coming your way–if you care anything about feminism, activism, LGBT rights, or literature in general, catch ‘em if you can!
In the news…
Was honored to be featured as a guest blogger during Banned Books Week by the Haphazard Gourmet Girls. (Wow, there were a lot of prepositions in that sentence and I’m too lazy to edit. Can you tell I’ve been grading papers?) Kudos to the Gehman grrrls for their food activism, especially regarding the contaminated Chinese products.
An excerpt from the entry is below. Click here to visit the Haphazard Gourmet Girls’ website and read the rest.
A singular problem Ms. Kenny faced during her Dom days: She’s a vegan, and refused to wear the leather corset that is de rigueur Dominatrix gear. Her solution? A corset made of the politically correct polyvinyl chloride fabric known as pleather, because, y’know, she was very principled. I Was a Teenage Dominatrix was nominated by Independent Magazine in the Most Likely to be Banned category in its first printing, and has gone on to many printings, here and abroad. The book is frequently removed from school libraries, and whether this is done by enthusiastic fans or disapproving censors is a question of ongoing debate…
The beautiful Soy Shawna was created by an artist friend of mine, Tony Mech. Visit Tony’s website here.
