Fur?

Okay, I know I’ve been out of the country for three years, but what the HELL is up with all the fur coats? Did all the years of lobbying against them suddenly go by the wayside because of fucking J-Lo???!! Maybe it’s because I’m in NYC now; I have no idea, but there is a real proliferation of fur coats in this world. When I first started seeing them out on the street, I was so surprised. I thought it was some rare (brave?) person. (Where are those people with the buckets of blood?). But now, I see them quite regularly, maybe a dozen a day. Maybe they’re all faux fur, but I seriously doubt it. You can usually tell pretty easily.

Now, perhaps I should preach since I am a huge fan of leather for bags, shoes, etc. I’m wearing leather boots right now. Yeah, I know leather isn’t REALLY the same, but it’s not like I have felt a lot of guilt/sympathy for the cow. I don’t know where this issue goes in the black-grey-white world of morality. I do know that I wince every time I see one and avert my eyes. This guy seems to take his own “who gives a shit?” attitude. Every person on this earth is doing something “immoral” in their life – eating meat/too much food, cheating on their spouse/taxes, stealing money, smoking/drinking/doing drugs, not recycling etc. etc.

I guess it’s not going on only here. According to another article (quick google search!), “Even though the UK government banned fur production in 2002, British furriers have reported a massive surge in sales.”

Well, is it an issue like “If you don’t like the program, change the channel?” I’ve never considered myself anything near of an activist. Besides the fact that my personality is much too withdrawn and shy for the boisterous assertiveness that true activism requires, I’ve always felt like I wanted to wait for that one TRUE cause that I could throw my whole self behind, instead of all these other ones I feel partially-inclined to get involved in. Ultimately, I feel that people should be allowed to live their own lives their own way, though I’m no Libertarian (*puke*), as long as they’re not hurting anyone (do animals count?). I have to admit that I did become enraged when I read an article that said a photo of Jackie Onassis wearing a leopard-skin coat published in Time Magazine ‘caused such a rush to buy them, that the animal nearly became extinct in a year. Ugh. Totally sick.