Do you Agree with PETA's Worst Dressed?

November 28, 2006

Nicole scored the prize for PETA's worst dressed celeb this year. PETA slammed Nicole saying, “This pelt-wearing party girl is all animal skin and bones. She’s an incredible shrinking woman with the heart to match.” Ashley Olsen takes the second place crown, and Christina Ricci wins the bronze. Eva also made the list where PETA noted, “You’d think she’d be more sympathetic to the plight of rabbits considering the way she screws around like one on Wisteria Lane.” Ouch! What do you think? Who should have won PETA's worst dressed prize?

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167 Comments

jlana 6 years 24 weeks

I remember signing that J Crew petition a while back. When they finally promised to stop using fur, it really helped reinforce my belief that even the smallest individual actions have the potential to make a difference.

ethiopian_princess 6 years 24 weeks

Toronado, 1. The fact that it is virtually impossible to prevent harm to all living things is no excuse for failing to minimize said harm. 2. Anti-fur activists and vegetarians make a huge difference. It's a HUGE deal that ralph lauren and j crew have stopped using fur. It's a HUGE deal that there's a veg designer (stella mccartney) who has had a great deal of mainstream success. It's a huge deal when any designer or corporation chooses to end unnecessary cruelty to animals due to activism. KFC is a recent example that got a ton of press. Do you know what brought attention to these? Protests. Do you know why People magazine would cover a story like that? Because Pam Anderson, in her bikini-clad glory, along with other celebs call attention to it. Skinning animals alive falls under the category of unnecessary cruelty and I don't understand how anyone with a conscience can justify it. Native Americans who need(ed) animal skin for warmth did not club the animals in the head and rip off their skin. 3. If you think pelting people who wear fur with red paint and making a worst dressed list is "extremist," go watch videos about the fur trade. Don't take the word of PeTA or like groups. Go to your library. Dig out an old PBS Special. While I think PeTA would be well-served by spending more time talking to companies (which it does) than protesting, I don't at all question the intentions of the people or their importance. The same goes for many causes that I care about, but it may be that I simply have far too much faith in people's desire to do the right thing. As for general interest, if the few people who cared about a cause waited for the rest of the world to become interested before sufficiently targeting it, abolition, suffrage movement, women's lib, civil rights, etc. would not have taken place. If the list didn't matter, why are there so many posts to it? We're discussing fur and that is exactly the point.

jlana 6 years 24 weeks

"Do you crap so easily on everyone you bark at?" "LOL, geez, there's one born every minute." "I don't have to KNOW you to get a sense of your inner-workings from the words you write. Actually, I'm quite glad I don't know you. In fact, I don't think I could stomach being within twenty feet of you." When you actually have something intelligent to say, then I will choose to debate views with you. Another personal attack without any basis in fact is undeserving of any further "dialogue" with you. Having said that, I sincerely wish you a nice day as well, because you look like you could really use one.

Toronado 6 years 24 weeks

You never said a thing about the medication or any of the other items I mentioned ("soap, makeup, etc hardly qualifies as a sufficient response). Dodging the bullet, how convenient. Your reply is verbal diarrhea. Do you crap so easily on everyone you bark at? "Living atop a tree? No, that would burden the tree. Eating only fruit? No, that would kill the insects crawling on it." LOL, geez, there's one born every minute. I don't have to KNOW you to get a sense of your inner-workings from the words you write. Actually, I'm quite glad I don't know you. In fact, I don't think I could stomach being within twenty feet of you. I don't drink tea. Have a nice day! :)

jlana 6 years 24 weeks

Hi Tornado, I will continue to turn my nose up at those who wear fur. I don't agree with it. I don't plan on ceasing my "diatribe" any time soon. I do use soap, make up, etc., and I go out of my way to find all products made without animal products or animal testing. So, it is possible to minimize the effect your actions have on animals and the environment in general. It is never positive or constructive to look at all your actions in terms of big or small, valuable or worthless. As mentioned, I don't plan on going naked and living in the forest because I don't feel that an all or nothing attitude is valuable when trying to make a positive change. In fact, most people who tie themselves up to trees and that sort of thing are simply taken down and arrested. However, do I demean their actions as pointless because they could not save that tree? No. I don't have to be "hardcore" (whatever that means anyways. Living atop a tree? No, that would burden the tree. Eating only fruit? No, that would kill the insects crawling on it) for my actions to count. They make a difference, and that is why I choose to do them. If you consider they are not enough, I quite frankly don't care, because my aim in doing them is not to impress you. Third, I never said I agreed with Peta's tactics. In fact, they make most animal lovers look irrational and sensationlist. What I do like about Peta is that they expose issues that most people are not aware occur on a daily basis. I actually am bettering myself as a person. I am not ashamed of it at all. Why should I be? That comes as a direct consequence of being good with others. Lastly, you do not know me: you have no idea what I do with my time, money and efforts, and hence you have no basis for calling me a self-centered, naive hyporcite. I will not go out and be "hardcore according to Tornado", in order to know that I am making positive changes in the world around me. And please, please, please, drink some tea and relax.

Toronado 6 years 24 weeks

Jhana, you may as well stop your diatribe. Being a vegetarian and turning up your nose at fur are good practices to follow, but they don't make you a hardcore animal rights activist by any means. Do you use makeup, shampoo, cleaning products, paints, or anything else which brings forth the possibility of any type of allergic reaction at ALL? Do you kill bugs with bug spray or just step on them? Do you or does anyone in your family take any sort of animal-tested medication WHATSOEVER for any illness, major or minor? Do you safeguard your house/apartment/condo/wherever against any threat to an animal's life? Have you chained yourself to the doors of every research facility in the country to show your disapproval of ANY sort of animal testing? Have you even spent hours on the 'net researching it? You are the type of person I tend to refer to as "naively hypocritical." You do things with the intention of bettering society as a whole when in fact your true achievement is simply bettering yourself as a person. I respect vegetarians and anti-fur activists, yes. But do you realize just how MINIMAL their affects are? They rant and rave and wave their little signs around and call people assholes and animal killers and PETA does their extremist crap and puts out their little worst-dressed lists all the time but the actual results of all the effort are so minute you'd be utterly astounded. Do you think Pamela Anderson had this earth-moving affect on the industry when she wore that friggin' lettuce bikini? The only thing she accomplished with that campaign was the simultaneous standing ovation of the diçks of men all over the globe. The ONLY way for anyone to be a true activist is to strip, quit bathing, sell every possession you own, and go live in the wild...because even if the ONLY thing you use is a single tube of Cover Girl Mascara, you are contributing to the very abuse you spoke of. Sure, we can be activists. But totally, completely 100%? No. Therefore, our arguments...YOUR arguments...are tainted. As far as PETA goes, they can bite me. They're extremists. Extremists almost always talk just to hear themselves. Spending millions on crappy campaigns half the world couldn't give a damn about is pointless.

ethiopian_princess 6 years 24 weeks

jlana, well said. I agree. butrfly, I can't say for sure about the furs Nicole has on here, but looking at the style, Christina, Eva and Olsen girl are definitely not sporting heirlooms unless they took a giant heirloom fur and turned it into something more modern. Nicole's have a vintage feel, but for someone who wears that much fur, I doubt that all are heirloom.

jlana 6 years 24 weeks

I am absolutely against wearing fur, and I have nothing but disrespect for others who choose to do so. This is not a "personal" choice that hurts noone, this is a choice that tortures, butchers, and pillages entire species for the sake of something as insignificant as fashion. If a person is not able to compassionately feel for the living being that has endured tremendous suffering only to become an accessory hanging on some person's filthy back, then something is wrong with that individual. There is no way to justify wearing fur. I am vegetarian myself, but I am not narrow-minded. I admire indigenous tribes that hunt yet use animals for meat, weaponry, and fur. These people uniformly display a strong respect and fear of animals. They value tham as just one more being that is entitled to the right to co-exist on earth. Compare this to the attitudes of those who simply walk into a store and purchase a clean, perfectly polished piece of pelt that is so far removed from the history behind it. They do not see the live animal, how it was treated in its life, what it endured, how it was killed. They do not see the pools of blood splatterd all over the ground as one by one each animal is skinned. What do these people show about how to feel for others? Is our compassion only given to members of our own race? Do we draw lines on where to be humane, and where to stop? Any person who feels animals are of lesser value may learn a strong lesson in learning about different species and the remarkable social and emotional characteristics they display. The elaborate mourning rituals elephants partake in upon the death of a fellow elephant. The intense emotional trauma chimp victims of research labs display. The documented cases of animals that "adopt" orphaned members of a different species. Even the endearing generosity of sea lions who have been known to offer freshly hunted penguin to fellow human researchers, diving in the antarctic seas. My interest in the welfare of animals does not dismiss my equivalent concern with humans. Yes, there is human suffering that needs to be attended to. I do my personal best to offer all the help I can give to impoverished children and communities. Yet I do not draw the line there, and assume that this is the only area of importance. I live on earth and I share it and care for humans and animals alike. It's time to start respecting animals and recognizing their inherent right to a dignified life.

HazelEyes46 6 years 24 weeks

I think Fur is fashion but faux's the way to go.

appreciated 6 years 24 weeks

True, I don't know that it is an old heirloom where the animal was used to its full extent. I guess its just a little hard to believe that all of the fur a celeb would have had been kept for so long as opposed to them buying a new piece. I don't think ignorant was that out of place. I take it as they do not understand what had happened in order for them to be wearing that 'beautiful' coat. All the animals that were murdered just for their fur. I'm sorry if you found that so offensive, it wasn't intended on setting anyone off. I guess it was just a bad choice in vocabulary. Seems a little silly to me to continue to wear something because its 'fashionable' even though something was killed for it. As opposed to something just as 'fashionable' (and warm) that didn't involve killing anything.

Butrfly4404 6 years 24 weeks

appreciated: How do you know if the fur someone is wearing is a 100 year old heirloom or if it was handmade from animals that were used to their full extent? Do you just assume everyone wearing animal hide is "ignorant," or do you question their integrity on it first? This has managed to stay a pretty civil discussion so far and it's nice to see people respecting each other's views. But I think that was a little unnecessary to go calling people "ignorant" for having a perspective that's different from yours.

Sica 6 years 24 weeks

:mob: No fur! ________________________________________ Made in Brasil!

brokenhalo 6 years 24 weeks

The whole fur trade is sick! Maybe in days gone by it was more humane (eg 30's & 40's), but in today's society, everyone is always looking for short-cuts & chasing the dollar & people in the fur industry brutally kill thousands of animals just to keep up with the growing demand! I actually thought most people were against fur, but this poll now gives me a different impression... One question though; How does PETA know that these celebs are wearing REAL fur? Because there are so many good fakes out there that unless a celeb actually admitted to wearing real fur, it is just wrong to accuse them of condoning cruelty to animals!

spacecadet 6 years 25 weeks

I am an ovo-lacto vegetarian and have been for about 26 years. I do wear leather shoes, belts and handbags.I don't own any leather or suede coats and I own no reptile clothing. I don't have leather car seats either. I do buy eggs but am hoping to have some chickensof my own soon so that I know where my eggs come from. I do my best to buy cruelty free beauty products. I recently discontinued my 7 year subscription to Vogue magazine because I felt they featured fur way too often. I am an animal lover with three cats and a huge, goofy foxhound. So, now I'll ask-what is the point of wearing fur? Can anyone tell me the point?

ethiopian_princess 6 years 25 weeks

I agree with those who find Nicole's views contradictory. How would she like it if I wore Honey Love as a stole? Foxes are close relatives of dogs. How can you find it okay to wear one as a jacket and the other make a friend?

appreciated 6 years 25 weeks

Butrfly4404: (a comment awhile back) Yes fur was all we had way back when to keep warm. 1) We used the entire animal. How many people eat minks? The natives used every part of the buffalo (or ox or whatever it was)...the fur, the bones, the meat, etc but then the 'white man' came and killed the animals just for their skin. And it was wrong. 2) Things have changed. We have so many other ways to keep warm....without killing an animal solely for its fur. I think it's really old fashioned and ignorant to wear fur or promote it. Its one thing if you're wearing the fur of something that had been killed and used for many things but when you just kill the animal for its fur...How fashionable is that? I just don't get it. And fake fur can look just as nice.

Padraigin 6 years 25 weeks

So is it wrong if I shaved my sheeps butt and made a glove out of it? Just curious. Sheep shearing doesn't kill the sheep and is actually beneficial to the sheep.

nini 6 years 25 weeks

I know a lot of people that eat liver and gizzards. Actually my mother in law loves liver and my friend at work loves gizzards.

JessNess 6 years 25 weeks

Cams- there are also many makeup products out there that do not contain animal products such as BareMinerals (my new fave)

JessNess 6 years 25 weeks

oh yeah- its not like you are killing one or two animals to make your coat. There are so many animals killed to make one coat specially with smaller game

JessNess 6 years 25 weeks

There are plenty of people that eat all of that...specially if you go to other countries. You can even have your food served in a stomach in some countries. To me animals to eat (ignoring for now how they are killed) and wearing fur are completely different. There are many biological reasons why we need to eat meat specially women. Plus many of the parts of the animal to eat are actually cut to eat. When an animal is killed for its fur that is all that is used is the fur. Plus some of the animals are still alive when they skin them. I have some videos where this happens. I just think that if you want the look of fur why not get a faux fur. Most of them look like the real thing anyways and you are not killing an animal for your vanity

t0xxic 6 years 25 weeks

Cams yea, some people eat liver gizzard heart stomach lining intestines.. skin fat. So yea

sugar_bear 6 years 25 weeks

I don't think it is wrong for someone to wear fur (But I choose not to). I am more against animal testing. I eat meat; therefore, I won't judge someone for wearing fur. By the way, I think that PETA is the worst hypocrite. In one ad, they had a NAKED WOMAN writing on a chalkboard (something like), I will not wear fur. Blah! WTH???? Don't be cruel to animals, but DEGRADE WOMEN??? You can see it on aboutface.com. PETA degrades women.

cams 6 years 25 weeks

What is the deal with all these posts about using the whole animal. Does anyone SERIOUSLY eat liver, heart, kidneys?? (Besides in makeup! gross!)

t0xxic 6 years 25 weeks

Aww teamy is so sweet.