Thursday, October 8, 2009

Blogger against fur







Ok, so it's obviously necesseary for me to write this post now..
I'm an animal lover. And this is about me expressing that.

I visited Karla's blog the other day, like I often do. I think she's a real cute girl with fun style. But there I saw a post that for some might be considered controversial. It was a fur editorial. I'm a believer in freedom of speech. Anyone can post about whatever they want, and anyone can comment however they like. That's one of the beauties of blogging.
This is the thing, Karla has a LOT of readers. And she of course has the ability to influence. She is a trend setter, and I'm sure a lot of girls copy her. So I made a comment where I expressed my oppinions on fur in fashion. After that came a long (and in some anonymous cases with not very relevant comments) discussion.

To make it real clear, I'm strongly against the use of fur in fashion. Some people think that I can not be against the use of fur, and at the same time like leather. Some also think that if I'm aganst use of fur, then I must be a vegetarian. If it's of any interest, I'm happy to explain why I mean what I mean. Here it goes:

First of all, I don't have extreme oppinions or beliefs at all. I'm not one of those people who throw paint on old ladies fur coats, or smash windows of fur stores.
But fur is extreme.
Animals on fur farms spend their lives in tiny cages only to be killed by anal or genital electrocution, which causes them to have a heart attack. Some are skinned alive. Animals in the wild may languish for days in traps before they die or are killed.
I think that if you wear a fur, it doesn't make you look glamourous or elegant. It makes you look ignorant and very cold hearted. Ignorance isn't modern. Dressing with integrity is so much hotter! :)

When it comes to leather. Yeah, I do like it. I much rather buy faux leather than real though. Sometimes I really think about this leather thing, I have very mixed feelings about it. Personally I would never wear leather from a child animal, no calf or lamb on me. You can call me weird if you want to, but I think that at least an animal should be able to grow up before it gets killed. The only leather I wear is from cows. And that too kinda stings a bit in my heart, so I've decided to not get any more leather jackets, at least.
For me it's not a question of killing animals. I'm more worried about what kind of life they live before they get killed. I know that meat farms in big countries like USA are pretty much..not humane. I'm glad that I live in a country where the rules are a bit stricter, and I might be wrong, but it looks like these animals have an ok life before the slaughter house. That doesn't mean that I think it's ok how we produce animals for food. But,I think that since a lot of animals are killed for food, we should at least use all the parts of the animal (skin, bone etc.). Like I said, I'm not extreme. I actually try not to be.

When it comes to eating meat (and I really don't know why anyone finds it interesting what I eat), all I can say is that I don't go there. I don't eat meat. Just for the record, haha:) But people around me does, and I don't judge them for that.

I think it's a good thing to have oppinions. And if you have different oppinions than me, then ok:)
I never "trash talk" other bloggers (just an ignorant anonymous comment I got). But I do feel like it's very important for me to speak up sometimes. A lot of people know what they are buying when they purchase fur. They buy torture. But some people don't know. My voice isn't big or loud like Karla's, but I will speak up when I see people promoting and celebrating the use of fur in fashion. Maybe I get someone to think about it, and if I do it will be worth all the angry yelling I get for it. Coming to think of it, anonymous people can say whatever they want, it's not like I loose sleep over it. Like I said, blog about whatever you want, and comment however you like. I will do the same;)


If you want to know more about fur, or leather,
here's some good info sites you should check out:


In English:
Peta
Fur is dead
Cows are cool

In Norwegian:
Dyrevern alliansen
Noah- for dyrs rettigheter


By the way, I think it's also importantnot to use products that are NOT tested on animals.
My all time favourite beauty blogger Hilde Christina, is doing very good investigation and info about this. Check her site out if you want to learn more about this. (Norwegian).

12 comments:

Cristi Silva said...

Right on!!!!! I love this! fur stuff is lame.

cattle starts at 3:40 said...

Sorry about my knee-jerk response to your comment on Karla's blog. Its true, I don't know how cows are raised or slaughtered in Norway, but in most parts of the world, it is a completely disgusting process. The largest suppliers of leather in the world are Italy and China, so you can bet that your leather shoes and boots aren't coming from the "humanely raised" cows from Norway. I already said it on Karla's, but a really good documentary to watch is called Meet Your Meat by PETA. I know you don't eat meat but you can see how inhumane farming animals is (for whatever product).

I would honestly keep your views about leather to yourself... only wearing skin from adult cows is pretty stupid when you have such strong views about wearing other animal's pelts. And to be perfectly frank, I chose to be anonymous because I don't talk about living a vegan lifestyle or being an activist against the farming of animals on my blog, my activism is a completely separate part of my life, and I don't want the two to interact by commenting with my google account. I deal with a lot of negativity as an activist, and my blog is one of the only escapes I have from that. Sorry for bringing negative feelings to your blog. I'm not coming back.

Ingrid said...

Fantastisk at folk skriver om dette. Skjønner ikke at folk klarer å gå med ekte pels...

Hek said...

I'm glad to see that people have reactions to this discussion. So thanks for views.

Like I've said I don't have extreme views at all, and I do have leather. I'n not saying that using leather is right. But I truly belive that fur is the worst. It's nothing radical about being against fur. I'm not an activist at all. Just a person who is not afraid to speak up for animals.

If you don't use leather then I guess you have just come further than I have. Good for you. I'm not trying to say that I'm perfect in any way, but I think that for a big fashion blogger to promote fur use is pretty irresponsible.

I'm not afraid to show my views through my blog, and I can't see how your vegan lifestyle can be a completely seperate part of your life. But that's up to you.

Everyone should think by themselves where to draw the line. My line goes with fur. Maybe it will be moved further, but the most important thing for me right now is to not supprot the fur industry.
These animals are turtured, have an unworthy life, and are killed JUST for their fur.

Lise Mette said...

Interessant innlegg.

Selv er jeg fullstendig i mot pelsdyroppdrett, og kunne aldri brukt ekte pels. Men jeg bruker falsk pels.

Jeg håper alle vil begynne å tenke etter når de kjøper pels, om de har samvittighet til å bruke det.

Lilisfashion said...

Er enig, og kjøper aldri nytt, men jeg har en vintage jakke (to) og syns på en måte at man kan bruke de, selv om det er med en god dose dårlig samvittighet.De er veldig varme i tillegg. Å bruke skinn er for så vidt det samme som å bruke pels, så vi burde alle bare kjøpe Stella klær...Vanskelig dette..

Hek said...

Jeg er HELT klar for å kjøpe Stella sine klær, den dagen jeg får råd til det:)

Cecilie said...

Et interessant og bra innlegg =) Jeg sverger til faux fur

Anonymous said...

Actually, there was an article published in Vogue China last June (?) about the new standards for killing the animals that are used for fur. The regulations are very strict, and you can rest assured that companies that carry the "seal of approval" or whatever you'd like to call it have humanely killed the animals they're using. A little research before your rant would have shown you that.

Also, how many of Karla's readers do you think can afford a $10,000+ Hermes fur coat? The look is what's important. She's not pushing fur, per se; rather, she's encouraging people to be creative with their style. All of those looks can be achieved with faux fur.

Honestly, wearing leather and eating beef is a bit hypocritical...as others have pointed out. Bravo to "cattle starts at 3:40" for telling it like it is.

Mari said...

Jeg ville ikke ha kjøpt en helt ny pelsjakke, men hvis det finnes en ekte pelsjakke i en bruktbutikk syns jeg det ikke er så veldig farlig å kjøpe den. For er det så veldig mye bedre at vi bare kaster jakken !!? Jeg elsker pels, men jeg kjøper bare faux!!

Men jeg syns virkelig at det er utrolig unødvendig av de menneskene som heller maling på pelsjakker osv.

Hek said...

In Norway we have a lot o fur farms, and there is rules on how to run these places (suuposedly strict). But recently they've found out that the way these animals live are very, very bad. So now there are serious organisations who are very critical to fur farms. "Mattilsynet" (the states health organisaton)are very critical to fur farms, and "Veterinærforeningen" (Vet organisation) have now officially went out and said that this should be forbidden.

I don't eat meat at all, but even if I did, it wouldn't make me a hypocrite to be against fur. This is two different things. I'm not saying nobody should use animal products, I'm just saying that fur is very, very extreme. It's like even though I watch violent movies, I'm not a hypocrite to be against war.. ;)

By the way, I think it's pretty strange, that when someone for once dears to speak up with their real name shown, then people attack anonymously. And also, if you guys are aginst fur, why do you get mad at someone who you actually agree with? Beacuse I have a leather jacket and a pair of leather boots? Does that make me incapable to have any oppinions at all? So if I'm not perfect then I'm not allowed to speak my mind about something that I feel is horrendous..?

Also you kow as well as me that I'm not thinking all Karla's readers will go out and get Hermes fur couts.. Hello.. This has to do with peoples attitudes towards fur. The best thing that could happen for these animals, is if fur became totally unmodern.

I'm going to continue to say whatever I want to, and I'll do so without being afraid to show who I am. I have nothing personal against Karla, and I think she knows that.
Actually, I didn't think anyone would care about my comment, but I'm quite happy to see how many people have been engaged in this.
:)

Barbro Andersen said...

Faux-fur and faux-leather <3