Robert Barker/University Photography

PETA's Dan Mathews speaks at an Oct. 29 debate on campus.

In an Oct. 29 debate on campus, two members of the Cornell Forensics Society (CFS) challenged People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) Senior Vice President Dan Mathews on the ethics and effectiveness of PETA's controversial "I'd Rather Go Naked Than Wear Fur" advertising campaign.

"Dan's argument is predicated on this idea that when you expose people to these images [of glamorous, unclothed celebrities] they will go from 'girl in a bikini' to 'I will now decide to read a 10-page paper about animal rights' to 'I will now change my behavior when it comes to animals,'" said CFS President Ryan Yeh '13, adding that the ads make people "less likely to take it as a serious movement."

"Let's face it," said Mathews, who instigated the campaign. "We're living in a pretty imbecilic society, and PETA would be invisible if we didn't play by the rules of getting into the mainstream of consciousness because animal rights issues are not political issues, they're consumer issues. As a charity, we have to be creative because we'll be invisible if we rely on the donations we get to try to get people's attention."

Noting that models Naomi Campbell and Cindy Crawford wore fur despite their participation in the campaign, Yeh said, "It's kind of dangerous when PETA decides to use celebrities. ... The problem with this is that it undercuts PETA's entire argument, when they rely on celebrities who are doing it more for their ego than for their genuine devotion to the cause."

Mathews begged to differ, arguing that a celebrity has power to shape legislation through social media. He cited actress Pamela Anderson's influence in pushing animal rights legislation in Austria and influencing Vladimir Putin to ban importation of seal fur in Russia.

The Cornell debaters expressed concern over exploitation and devaluation in the campaign.

"In PETA's advertising, women are consistently portrayed as sex objects, unrealistic and unattainable standards of beauty," argued Daniel Powers '14. "Instead of independent agents they are objects for male pleasure. ... Fatness and unattractiveness is shamed as something that should be avoided by going vegetarian."

He continued: "There's a conscious choice that goes into picking these types of images. Nothing forces PETA to display overtly sexual images everywhere or images that draw on slavery. They're exploiting cultural norms and, therefore, devaluing other groups to promote their advocacy of animals, and we shouldn't accept this in any moral or ethical campaign."

Mathews responded that singers Melissa Etheridge and Carnie Wilson do not conform to idealized female beauty. "All of the people who've done our ads, men and women, volunteered," he said. "It's not just nudity for nudity's sake. Fur is a clothing issue. It makes perfect sense as an advertisement. You're saying you'd rather wear nothing than wear fur."

Mathews continued: "There's a lot of people who love animals and are confused about what happens on factory farms, and when they get the information, it makes their diet a lot easier because it gives them the willpower because they can actually think about the animal involved as well."

Yeh concluded: "We think that the best way for PETA to get its message across is to do things like we're doing here today." Images of naked women on posters, he said, "make it harder for people who are willing to consider these logical arguments to come to the table and have these discussions."

Jacques Diec '15 is a writer intern for the Cornell Chronicle.