PETA warns the public of the dangers of eating chicken wings
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), the animal rights activist group, has taken on the responsibility of warning the founder of the National Buffalo Wing Festival, as well as the public, that allowing pregnant women to consume chicken wings may cause their unborn sons to be born with small penises.
PETA recently sent a letter to the founder of the festival warning them that the chemical phthalate, which is found in chicken as well as a variety of other sources, affects the size of a child’s penis size when consumed during pregnancy. I have to admit that, even for PETA, this is a far reach.
The animal rights activist group gets right down to the point in its letter when it mentions the devastating effects of consuming chicken wings during pregnancy for the soon to be newborn sons: “I think we can agree that embarrassment and insecurity are no small matters.” Personally, I think we can agree that this is just another one of PETA’s relentless stunts to guilt people into becoming vegetarians. Hurling fake buckets of blood or flour at celebrities who wear fur (such as Kim Kardashian and Lindsay Lohan), coming up with shameless and outrageous stories to shame people out of eating meat – these are things we have sadly learned to expect from PETA. It should come to no surprise that PETA may have overreacted, but only just a little bit.
According to Woman’s Health Magazine, the research done for this study for Future Families, which PETA used for their evidence, did not actually look at chicken consumption at all. The study did find a link between phthalate exposure and penis size, but chicken was not a food with particularly high levels of this chemical, as foods with spices and fast food packaging contained the highest concentrations. PETA is so dishonest in its claims and methods of spreading its message that it cancels out any good the organization tries to do, practically reversing it with stunts like this. Instead of fabricating a ridiculous story about the horror of shrinking the size of your unborn infant’s penis by chicken consumption, why not stay focused on the issue of how animals that are bred for food can be treated so brutally and inhumanely?
PETA has been known to use controversial tactics to warn the public about the consequences of consuming meat, using vulgar language in their slogans and photos, posting horrifying pictures of abused or dead animals, sending activists out to boycott fashion shows and celebrity appearances – the list goes on. These methods are causing fellow vegetarians to lose respect for the organization, as well as deterring those who may be considering vegetarianism out of sheer embarrassment from the stigma PETA is creating for this lifestyle.
There will always be varying opinions on the controversial issue of eating meat, but we can always rely on PETA to remind us of how terrible we are if we choose to eat it.