I wore fur in the past when I was vegetarian. I am a bit ashamed of that now and am even more ashamed to say that I miss it. I don't think it's hypocritical for non-veggies to abhor fur wearer's. There's no freerange fur like there is meat.
Fur is gross. It's disgusting how they skin the animals alive. Though I'm sure they do no different with the cows hmmm I just relized the belt I bought last week is leather. Horrible it didn't cross my mind once when I picked it out. I feel bad now. I wish I would of thought about it then. But then it did take me 6 months to find a belt I like... and it just happens to be cow skin ick. I have a much harder time advoiding leather. I wish they made vegan birkenstocks. hyprocritical? well yea. but at least leather has some pratical uses. Unlike fur which is just for ugly women to feel good. (and I mean ugly on the inside). Everytime I want to feel the wonderfulness of fur, I go snuggle my cat
yep... my Birk sandals are vegan. so are my normal every day shoes. my sandals are fake leather, with no bone in the glue, and my normal shoes are hemp, fake swede, with no bone in the glue, and recycled rubber soles. i use cotton or hemp belts. in my opinion, fur and leather had practical uses, but today their use is obsolete, yet still worn for fashion. fur is no longer needed for warmth, in most places, because synthetic, and plant derived fibers are more practical. leather, in most all cases, can also be replaced with synthetic fibers. in response to the original post... yes i do think it is hypocritical. but even if it is, I'm glad that ya denounce fur, even if ya eat meat. i think more people dislike fur more than they dislike leather, because fur is more recognizable as part of an animal. where as leather just looks like a tough fiber. although the only difference is leather is just skin, while fur is skin plus the actual hair. its all the same...
No leather or fur here. I don't object to people objecting to leather at all. My neighbor, a meat eater, was once tellin me about how in South America, many cows are "harvested" unethically for their leather and they don't even use any of the meat there. She also taught me that leather is chemically processed heavily, and the process of actually making it creates a lot of pollution. A small amount of leather is on my belt but it was from a thrift store so I was not directly supporting it. I rarely buy it even from the thrift store beause I don't feel right promoting it as a fashion statement. Shit I feel just as bad wearin polyester though...which is apparently coated with formaldehyde and other toxic chemicals that leech out into the air and get into you through your skin skin. I've always noticed I get a stuffy nose wearing polyester. I need to get some money and invest in some hemp clothing.... or some organic cotton at least. Cotton is one of the most pesticide intensive crops grown, so it is not really right to buy that either..which is why I try to stick with re-used stuff from thrift stores. Anyone know where to find some nice affordable hemp clothing? Peace =) Avocado
Avocado Noni - The chemicals used to produce leather are just as harsh as those used to produce plastics. I've been an anti-fur activist since I was 10. I've only been Vegan for 4 years (I'm now 36). I just never made the connection. I don't think that's hypocritical, just ignorant.
When stripped bare of the cultural norms of recent years and the specisism existen for centuries ... yes. My only leather items are second hand or from my pre-veg days. I'll keep wearing/using them, as I feel it honours the sacrifice and suffering of those non-humans, though of course will replace them with more ethical alternatives when the time comes. Same principle with wool and down/feathers. I've never had fur; too expensive and my family are all pro-AW so wouldn't go there anyway. How? I honestly cannot see the diffrence. Both processes involve treating animals as property, killing them for our arbitary preferences, causing them to suffer greatly in the process, perpetuating further abuse as a result by supply & demand etc. I mean it can't be about need, because we can thrive as veg*ans and with non-animal items. Nor cultural norms, because fur is a norm in plenty of cultures (cold ones, funnily enough). Taste is surely too arbitary to create a moral consensus. So what is the reason? That's not snarking, just a total inability to understand. If anyone could explain I'd appreciate it.
uh, there is: trapped animals. Sure, most is farmed, but some parts of the world (including the US and Canada) has a trapper trade still.
Many people believe it is natural and healthy to eat meat - and for some it is. Fur has no use - it is only for aesthetic reasons. Its stupid to kill an animal for a coat. But we need food to survive. Also if you're against fur but not leather, that doesn't make you a hypocrite either in my opinion because leather is a by-product. So basically.. killing an animal for a piece of clothing and only that is stupid and so completely wrong, and whoever can't see that is crazy.
fur does have a use! ever been to Alaska(in winter), or anywhere far north. try keeping warm up there without fur. most man made materials are far less useful compared to fur in extreme negative temperatures.
^^yep. and usually trapped. to the OP, if they kill animals for food, why do they see that as ok, but not for fur? (my own musing here) has that part of the AR sensibility gone mainstream? that single-use killing is not OK? and if that has sunk in, can we get some hope for chickens? (a single kill reason as feather pillows are usually goose.) Let me put on a devil's advocate hat: is it better to wear a fiber, including skin, that will deteriorate in a landfill or a petrol-based fiber that will not? (Goretex, polar fleece, my own sandals) personally, my shoes are petrol based. but they resole and I wear them for a very long time. I won 2 pair of Chacos. for years they were all I owned aside from a custom pair of moccasins. Now I own a pair of snow boots as well. I rarely wear the mocs, as they are leather and my "award dinner" shoes. Snow boots, until last december, were a few times a year proposition (I've worn them daily for 50 days now..) that leaves my chacos. I bought pair 1 in 1998/99 and pair 2 in 2002 when i needed to send pair 1 to be resoled. Pair 1 is reasonably looking/ feeling like the footbed has another five years at least in them. Once the footbed goes, the shoes lose all support and need to be replaced for daily wear, although they'd be great muck around shoes, I'd think. Pair 2 probably will see me into 2015, minimum. with a few resoles. If i had Birks, leather birks (I dislike the vegan ones), I'd have tossed a 1999 pair by now, and birks have leather in the strapping and in the insole liner, as well as animal byproduct in the monthly sealant (watered down glue to protect the cork, which I say is necessary--I wore Birks for 10 years before the chacos solidly, and scattered through my childhood)
yeah but you can get by without fur anyway. and for most people this is irrelevant cos we dont go that far north.
