Animal rights activists from PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) called their followers to Twitter Do not use animal names as insults. In their opinion, this is a manifestation of specialism – discrimination based on biological species.
“Calling someone an animal is an insult, which reinforces the myth of the superiority of humans over other animals and justifies violence against them,” the organization’s post says. Attached to it is a picture with the usual swear words, which can replace “animal-phobic” insults.
In subsequent posts, representatives of the organization claim oppression, which is intensified due to the fact that people attribute negative human traits to animals. Such statements, they believe, make people insensitive, and killing animals – something normal.
“Spessish expressions are not just harmful, but also inaccurate,” insists PETA and says that pigs are actually intelligent and empathic, and snakes enter into family relationships. Finally, activists call for completely abandoning swearing and being kinder.
Many social media users ridiculed PETA’s statement: they recalled that animals do not have a speech apparatus and they are not familiar with the concept of words, and their names are directly related to their signs.
Among those who criticized the organization’s posts were animal rights advocates: vegans with years of experience: they felt that PETA made their entire community look ridiculous. “Sometimes I think you do this kind of thing to help the opponents of vegans. I think PETA has a humorous agent provocateur,” wrote a user named Lauren Dudley.