Miranda Kerr on the cover of Esquire.
Miranda Kerr, really? We’re happy for you that you’ve just been named Esquire magazine’s sexiest woman alive and if you wish to mark that honour by stripping down to your underwear?
Your call. Whatevs.
But the fur coat (which by all accounts is real and even if it’s not, certainly APPEARS real and thus glamourises fur) is many shades of wrong.
The shoot certainly doesn’t appear to be particularly in keeping with the supermodel’s usual ‘be kind to yourself and the world’ message. (the interview that goes with the shots is interesting too….you can read Miranda’s comments including that she might have been a koala in a previous life here).
Nor, it seems, is it in line with her Australian employer David Jones’ anti-fur policy. Both major Australian department stores, Myer and David Jones have recently announced strong anti-fur positions.
Earlier this month Myer confirmed that they would be giving their customers what they wanted an instituting a full blown fur ban in their stores.
A spokesperson for Myer corporate affairs said: ‘More and more stores around the world have a no-fur policy and we took on board the feedback of customers. Myer is committed to building a socially responsible business and we do not condone the use of fur obtained by cruel means. Community views on the use of fur in merchandise have changed, regardless of the source of that fur.”
Well, good. And then there’s this…
The latest Peta ad campaign featuring Joanna Krupa
It’s a long-standing PETA (People For The Ethical Treatment of Animals) tradition: get hot women to take their clothes off to draw attention to animal cruelty.
Many have a problem with this idea of using women’s bodies and sexuality as a way to draw attention to an unrelated cause (we wrote about THAT on Mamamia just last week and you should check it out here.)
But this latest PETA ad is a little bit different because it uses humour.
UK glamour model Joanna Krupa has taken her gear off for the latest PETA ad campaign but nudity sort of has a point this time (as do the “I’d rather go naked than wear fur” campaigns PETA often runs with nude female celebs).
The latest ad shows Krupa wearing a pair of sheer pink knickers with HUGE tufts of fur sprouting out the sides, mimicking a lady-garden that has grown wild and free. And long. The new headline reads: “Fur Trim: Unattractive”, followed by the tag line, “Don’t ruin your look with fur trim.”
Here’s a YouTube clip of Krupa during the making of the controversial ad campaign:
We asked PETA for a comment on Miranda’s shoot for Esquire, here’s what they had to say:
“Miranda has a cruelty-free cosmetic line and has not previously endorsed fur so we are working to establish whether this is indeed real fur and whether Miranda was aware of this. There is nothing sexy about skinning animals alive, so we hope Miranda was flaunting a fabulous fake.”
What do you think of PETA’s stop animal cruelty campaign always featuring semi-nude beautiful women? Do you think it adds strength to their message? Do you buy or wear fur?
Comments
70 Comments so far
This is from the same shoot – and it doesn’t look real when in colour…
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You all tout ignorance as though it were a virtue. Animals are skinned alive in china in the name of fur. The only people who wear fur are arrogant and ignorant. And I will stand up for animal rights so long as there are obnoxious people who tout the excuse ‘it’s vintage’ or ‘they were farmed’ for it for the rest of my life.
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@Danni
Have you thought about the practicalities of skinning an animal alive & not nicking the pelt or causing any other damage that would downgrade of the value of the pelt. I would’ve thought that it would be a whole lot easier to kill the animal first. Therefore I believe your statement of “animals are skinned alive” as improbable. What references have you got to back up this statement?
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All you need to do is check out some animal lib pages on facebook, de beers. I can post a video link but believe me, it is horrifying.
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Agree with what heaps of people have said below. I’m not against fur if an animal is already being used for meat. In fact, I love the look and feel of fur.
But the idea of animals being skinned alive disgusts me. I don’t buy fur for that reason. (Oh, and maybe the price tag is also a factor. Maybe.)
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If fur is a byproduct of the meat industry and done humanely then it wouldn’t be an issue, however in China it is still the case that dogs, cats, foxes etc are still routinely beaten to death and skinned alive as it is believed that this produces better quality and softer leather. It is often labelled as rabbit fur then exported around the world. The thing is, you never know for sure how the animal was treated or what animal it really came from so not buying new furs is the best option. If you really want fur then why not search op shops? That way you not only support a charity but you are not perpetuating a questionable industry.
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Why is the fur industry not regulated, like the meat industry is? Is it not possible to have humane fur practices? I know you’re saying these practices are the reality, but surely in theory it could be done humanely – like farming veal is in Australia?
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I’d like to know how ‘veal farming’ could possibly be considered ‘humane’.
How is killing someone who wants to live ‘humane’?
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I guess that locking a calf in a dark and confined space is a little less humane than allowing the calves to be raised on pasture with their mothers.
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@Lauren
veal comes from calves. There is no killing of “someone” rather the killing of something
@nd97
no calves are locked in dark and confined sheds in Australia. Link to recent Landline story -
http://www.abc.net.au/landline/content/2012/s3590827.htm
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I have no problem with fur, because for the most part it is part of the process.
animals are farmed, killed, use their meat for food and their skins/fur for clothing.
Obviously, killing a polar bear to use its fur as a coat is outrageous, but using farmed rabbit fur is totally ok!
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Ugh, PETA. They are the worst
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If you watch the clip that is linked, the coat is actually bright blue. Doesn’t that sort of indicate that it’s synthetic fur? And seriously, what is wrong with saying she thinks she was a koala in a previous life because she likes to climb trees. I’m sure she said in a joking, light hearted way. She is a country girl, after all. I like to climb trees too. Although I don’t often get a chance to do it!
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I’m not loving the fur either real or not but is anyone else concerned with Miranda saying she thinks she was a koala in a past life (because she likes climbing trees)?!! Miranda, you are super hot and probably very nice but only teenage girls at slumber parties can get away with lines like that!!
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PETA are the worst. their end game is extreme- we should all be vegan, owning pets is unethical, no animal should be killed for any reason (but i bet they don’t have a problem with abortion.)
their campaign against mulesing was utterly f dishonest. the alternative fate of sheep- fly strike is far worse.
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What do you think is a good justification for killing an animal? Clothing? Food? Why should they die for you?
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What is it with the anti fur lobby? Why is it people can carry on like stepped on chooks about fur yet are happy to wear leather?
It’s a real shame that fur is out of fashion, if we could get fur coats made of lappin we’d be able to get rid a a nasty pest.
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I totally agree. Of course cruelty to animals is wrong, but if you eat animals’ flesh and wear their skins, what difference is their fur/hair. And what are synthetic materials made from? Usually a petroleum derived product, which is from oil, which is now being drilled from places like the arctic and endangering polar bears. You could even argue that manufacturing cotton, with the huge amounts of water and chemicals used, is more harmful to the environment than using animal products that are killed in a sustainable and humane way.
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Exactly! It’s is just as cruel to wear leather and eat their corpses!
Animals bred for fur are usually anally or vaginally electrocuted – how can anybody justify that torture on any creature. And there are many alternatives to animal products, hemp, bamboo, buying from op-shops etc. that are more sustainable to wear.
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For the record, ‘lapin’ (meaning rabbit), doesn’t come from wild rabbits. It comes from domestic rabbits who are farmed intensively in tiny wire cages in the manner of battery hens. Wild rabbit fur has a completely different texture. So what you are suggesting is actually increasing the number of rabbits in Australia. And treating them horrifically while we’re at it. Marvellous plan.
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I in no way did catch his condition. I discover him hard to like. The generally not terribly outspoken Bernard Fanning once described him as "a precocious little c. . .". It is eye-opening, though, to see beautiful women such as Winona Ryder and Claire Danes fighting over the singer-songwriter. I could well have done without the sustained footage of Lee and Danes making out with tongues, and ditto the shirtless moments in bed, in New York, in 1997.
Actress Michelle Williams, it seems, was touched by Lee’s power and beauty, as were Jason Schwartzman (Bored to Death), Zooey Deschanel (New Girl) and Sean Ono Lennon. Some people would have had the grace to retract the statement that their own album was the best Australian album ever, with the only competition being AC/DC’s Back in Black. Not Lee. Danes insists he was playing the character of an arrogant guy at the time. Great move if your objective is to annoy people and leave an everlasting impression of smugness. I don’t think this program will win Lee many new fans, but I suspect that the beautiful women who love him, the established artists who admire him, and the fans he already has will lap it up.
Ben Lee: Catch My Disorder ‘, Monday, 9.30pm, ABC1
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” …even if it’s not [real fur], certainly APPEARS real and thus glamourises fur is many shades of wrong”.
Oh yeah, best to have a bet both ways on this one in case just in case your argument has no leg to stand on.
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The Joanna Krupa ad looks more like an ad for waxing body hair, which is not something we should be suggesting is unattractive or ruins your look. I don’t mind the I’d rather go naked than wear fur ads, if women want to put themselves out there in a sexualised manner then go for it, but this new one is awful.
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To the Mamamia team: You obviously have a strong stance against fur, but how do you feel about leather? Silk?
The fur industry is absolutely horrendous, but so are the latter.
Think outside the box.
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hey carrie, i was actually curious about this! i am living in London and it’s getting really cold and i (ashamedly) love fur. I have sort out some vintage and looking into fake because i cant buy new real fur… but then i wonder why is it so bad? why is fur worse then leather or silk or all that which is widly acceptable, is it purely because of the poor treatment of animals to get the fur? I would love to be enlightened.
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Fur isn’t worse than leather or silk or in many cases, wool. I guess the thing about fur is that animals are farmed purely for fur, and the circumstances of their death are absolutely horrific. People mistakenly believe that leather is a by-product of the meat industry but in actuality the demand for leather drives a lot of slaughter. Let’s not forget that an abattoir plays out like a horror film, and animals farmed for fur are often skinned while still alive and screaming. They are also killed by having a rod rammed into their anus or vagina and electrocuted. There really is no humane fur.
As far as silk and wool go, silk worms are confined to boxes their entire lives, and sheep routinely die from exposure by being shorn too early in the year. I think if people are going to insist on buying wool, then they should shear their own sheep or alpaca or whatever, and have the wool spun. That way you have a beautiful little companion to love as well as indulge your need for wool!
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Wool is largely a by-product of the meat industry (except in the case of boutique/stud wool). Most wool comes from sheep farmed to breed lambs for meat. Claiming that they ‘routinely’ die from exposure after early shearing is incorrect. Deaths occur for varied reasons on any farm, but no farmer would risk his entire breeding stock simply to get wool off early.
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The mainstream feminist movement has completely ignored the suffering of animals. As a ‘strident feminist’ (in the words of Caitlin Moran) I am bitterly disappointed at this. Let’s not forget that the majority of animal exploitation is of female animals – breeding, milk, egg laying.
While PETA’s campaigns are often questionable as far as feminism goes, they are partly responsible for creating the biggest social movement of our time – animal rights. For that we should grateful.
As for feminists who turn their nose at this movement – think about the individual who suffered to sit in gravy on your plate. Or to make your shoes. Or who was vaginally electrocuted or skinned alive for your fur coat. Then think about their mother. Feminism and animal rights should be intrinsically linked, not mutually exclusive. I implore my fellow feminists to reconsider their decisions.
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Brilliant comment.
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Fantastic point! The production of milk and eggs is pure exploitation of a woman’s reproductive system. Nobody needs to consume, wear or use animal products.
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What about Eskimos?
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Look at what the extreme mountain climber or antartic hikers wear – it’s not fur, it’s high tech synthetics as they keep you warmer.
Perhaps for a tiny minority of people with limited means and without much choice animal products could be helpful, but using these people as an excuse to justify your cruelty is unhelpful.
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I think fur is such a wank! I don’t have anything against farming animals humanely for their commercial products (we do it for food, leather – why not fur) but I don’t buy fur because I live in Queensland, not the north pole.
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I know it’s probably still a negative way to sexualise women’s bodies for advertising but I must admit I love the PETA ads. I guess because you see bikini clad women everywhere it’s nice to see it actually put to a good cause. I’m not saying its right but I’ve always like the adverts and posters
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Miranda Kerr is a professional model, a Victoria’s Secret lingerie model to be precise. She makes a living out of walking around in her underwear. I do not understand why people think it is ok to criticise someone for how they make a living when it is perfectly legal and acceptable. You may not agree with it morally and you may think it objectifies women and you have the right to that opinion. But like so many other things in this world, if you don’t like it, don’t engage with it.
I do not personally have an opinion on fur either way, however if it is real then it is very disappointing to see someone, whose own product line is cruelty free, going against everything they stand for. If it is fake then it is also a little disappointing, as a simple google search will show a 2011 blog entry (though not written by Kerr herself) on the KORA Organics website points out the many environmental and moral implications faux fur can have.
If you hadn’t premised this article by criticising Miranda Kerr for not wearing pants I would’ve had far more respect for you and your message. However, you have simply used that to draw people’s attention to what could’ve been an important moral debate.
I also agree whole-heartedly with @stolichnaya on the PETA thing!
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This is different? Really? I’m pretty sure shaming women for having hair on their bodies is still pretty despicable. Shame on you, PETA.
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It’s far less despicable that skinning animals alive for their fur, or killing them for meat. Let’s get some perspective people! Joanna Krupa CHOSE to be in this campaign – animals have NO CHOICE whether they live or die or HOW they die.
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If we weren’t meant to eat animals they wouldn’t be made out of meat.
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You are made of meat too. It is okay to eat you?
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Many carnivorous animals would eat a human given the chance!
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There is no such thing as cruelty free fur and rarely is it a by-product. These animals are farmed and killed for their pelts only or they are trapped in the wild using leg hold traps, which cause an agonising death. And if that’s not enough to put you off – a lot of the fur trim used these days is actually cat and dog fur from China and you don’t want to know about that industry!
Only beautiful animals and ugly people wear fur.
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This picture pretty well sums it up for me
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Speak for yourself, I am definitely opposed to both and voice my opposition to both leather and fur wearers!
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I certainly wasn’t speaking for anyone else but myself! But you’ve gotta admit, at least a few people agree….
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I would think shoes and handbags would make up a far larger portion of leather goods than bikie specific clothing…
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Shoes and bags are not exclusive to rich ladies either. You win at missing the point.
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Considering the majority of women buying leather shoes and handbags are middle class, white westerners, I think it’s fair to say that these women absolutely are, by all accounts, rich. So congrats! You totally get the medal for missing the point.
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I am an animal lover, couldn’t watch an animal being killed EVER or heaven forbid kill one myself.
However I can’t stop eating meat, love it too much. Therefore I’m reluctant to take a stance against fur – seems hypocritical. However I can’t afford real fur anyway so isn’t a problem!!
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Visit an abattoir and I’m pretty sure you’ll stop eating meat!
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I wouldn’t be so sure. I’ve seen it, it’s not nice, but you get over it pretty quickly.
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My Dad was a butcher and I used to go out to the abattoirs with him regularly. We were also friends with farmers. A bbq lunch was simply waiting for the chops to be drained before being put on the hot plate.
I still eat meat and love it. Move along.
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Been to many abattoirs lately have you? Or do you just watch the propaganda?
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Australian abattoirs kill animals humanely for their meat. Our standards are better than pretty much anywhere in the world. Please do not compare the fur industry overseas to the Australian meat, wool or leather industry. They are very different things.
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Ash please don’t call yourself an animal lover if you eat meat. You may love SOME animals, but clearly have nothing but contempt for the ones you eat and wear.
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That’s your definition Lauren, please don’t force your moral attitudes onto others, or judge them.
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Ash, as another animal lover I urge you to take your love a step further. You could start by reducing the amount of meat you eat, for example meatless mondays and see how you feel. Think about why you like meat, for many people the taste is linked with happy memories and celebrations. There are meatless recipes jsut about any meat product and onces you reduce you will see how easy and delicious vegetarian and vegan food can be. Not to mention healthy!! Reduce your risk of cancer, obesity, heart disease, diabetes and many more – by simply following your compassion. The animals will thank you!
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I’ve never worn fur in my life but that PETA ad makes me want to. I am so sick of this ridiculous organisation co-opting, shaming, sexualising and all-round exploiting women’s bodies to sell their message.
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I was trying to figure out why that ad made me so angry and upset but couldn’t find the words. You did. Thank you.
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As a feminist and as a vegan who not only avoids eating any animal products but also wearing them (including leather and wool, etc), I too absolutely loathe this ad, and pretty much everything PETA does.
To not see the irony of objectifying and commercially consuming a woman to condemn the objectification and literal consumption of another living thing is infuriating.
Read Carol Adams’ “The Sexual Politics of Meat” already, PETA!
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Perhaps the campaign made sense 20 years ago with the ‘I’d rather go naked than wear fur’ slogan. But they should have changed their approach. Nudity doesn’t have the same effect now as it did then.
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Two wrongs make a right do they?
There is no reason to wear fur or even hypothetically support it.
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I buy and wear fur. I love it. Always have, always will. Humans have been wearing it since the beginning of time. As long as the brand is cruelty-free (think Watson x Watson) i don’t see the problem. Go Miranda.
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I have a similar attitude. And whenever I see reptiles, all I can think is ‘shoes’.
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I think … and I mean ‘think’ because I just vaguely remember reading it … that many fur brands can ‘claim’ to be cruelty free quite easily. But they in fact aren’t … example is fur brand Harmony and Lawson from WA.
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‘… since the beginning of time’ is the world’s biggest cop out. Cavemen clubbed women and raped them since the beginning, should we be endorsing that too? Get enlightened people!
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Straw man.
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Lauren, there is no-one with a greater closed mind than an individual who lacks respect for others.
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I couldn’t agree more. That’s why I don’t eat animals.
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Cruelty-free fur is an oxymoron. And doing something because it has always been done is ridiculous. The Suffragettes must be rolling in their graves.
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“but this is funny”
Hmm, really? Already I’m not laughing.
Yet another example of how PETA has a problem with women.
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