Moonage Political Webdream

Usually I’m pretty harsh on PETA. They do some pretty goofball things that in my opinion more often than not harm their cause more than helping it by putting fear in people that if they are concerned about helping animals too they might be perceived as being as whacky as PETA. However, today, I saw this letter in the news:

On behalf of PETA€™s more than 1.6 million members and supporters worldwide, I am writing to request that you revise The Associated Press Stylebook so that its grammatical rules reflect the fact that animals are living beings rather than inanimate objects. In magazine articles, popular literature, and advertising, writers are using “he,” “she,” and “who” to refer to animals€instead of the outdated and inaccurate “it” and “which.” Won€™t you consider making this transition as well?

As “the essential global news network,” the Associated Press (AP) should take a progressive step and give animals the respect that they deserve by revising AP style guidelines to reflect the usage of personal pronouns for all animals.

While the world accelerates through the 21st century, progressive ideas are challenging and changing conventional perspectives. Recently, the American legal system recognized that nonhuman animals deserve legal status beyond that of mere “property” and that abusive treatment of animals is more than simple vandalism.

The public now recognizes that whales, who sing across oceans; great apes, who share more than 98 percent of our DNA; sheep, who can recognize as many as 50 faces after not having seen them for two years; and pigs and chickens, who can learn to operate switches in order to control heat and light in factory-farm sheds, are feeling, intelligent individuals€not objects. Our language should reflect this.

I would greatly appreciate hearing your decision on this matter. Enclosed are PETA€™s Writing Style and Guidelines, which explain how to avoid language that portrays animals in a negative light.

Thank you very much for your time.

Sincerely,

Anna West
Director of Written Communications

Some points about this:

1. I’m OK with this. Some animals obviously can comprehend things such as aggression and pain, etc.. De-humanizing the impact of these actions serves no purpose. We can do without intentional abuse of animals and should make the actions of such a little more personal than say, kicking a car. It can get carried a little too far, but referring to animals as “he” or “she” is no big deal. So, for the first time on the Webdream, I’m going along with PETA. It’s probably the last too.
2. This does not mean that animals become immune to hunting or eating or the processes thereof. I’ve not been hunting for a long time. However, the last time I did go, whenever we bagged a dinner, we usually uttered our victory chant in the proper text. “I shot him!” or “I got her!” So, I think in this case, hunters apparently have been more politically correct than Associated Press has ever been. Which really doesn’t surprise me.
3. I want a job that has the title “Director of Written Communications”. It must be nice to never have to deal with people face-to-face.

Just some of my thoughts

Moon, Director of Written Comunications, People Eating Tasty Animals

Technorati Tags: animal, associated press, Director-of-Written-Communications, hunter, hunting, Media, PETA.Peopla-for-the-Ethical-Treatment-of-Animals, Political Correctness

Tags: animal, associated press, Director-of-Written-Communications, hunter, hunting, Media, PETA.Peopla-for-the-Ethical-Treatment-of-Animals, Political Correctness

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