Breast milk is quite a bit lower in fat content than many other mammals because our children develop much slower.

that’s not true. human milk is lower in protein content, but the fat content is higher. human milk is perhaps not “richer,” but it is sweeter and fattier (though as far as babies are concerned what’s significant is the exact nutritional composition and many other factors – human milk is designed for growing human babies, while cow milk isn’t). you can do a search and select scientific data on “human milk compared to cow milk.”

but isn’t it disturbing that we don’t have a clear idea about that? that we’re not very educated about the milk of our own species or that we find it gross (and that when we think of “milk” the default is cow’s milk)? and isn’t it strange that though it’s pretty straightforward information, even the nutritional facts are relatively obscure to most people?

this is a LIE. cows (and women) will continue to give milk so long as they are milked (in general).

nope – not at the level of “giving milk” (continuous over many years) that we are talking about in the context of dairy production. please look up information on dairy practices (go ahead and check out the info coming directly from the dairy industry — see what they do with the so-called “rape racks” for instance).

unfortunately, peta’s campaign does nothing to dispel myths – that’s their problem in a nutshell: supposedly they try to “shake things up” and make people think about animal cruelty, but what they actually accomplish with their “the ends justify the means” approach is to make the public cling to their misconceptions all the more (including, as we’ve seen so many times, the sexist attitudes of those who don’t mind being sexist and the speciesist attitudes of feminists who don’t think an issue is feminist/worthy of their attention unless it involves a woman being denied a job promotion).

and the other thing peta accomplishes with campaigns like this, unfortunately, is to give the whole animal welfare/rights movement a bad name… though it must be said, also, that it’s disturbing how ready the majority of people are to distrust and dismiss those concerned about animal cruelty, probably so that they won’t be forced to think about it (as any vegetarian knows by just existing in a meat-eating culture, you don’t even have to do or say anything – you’ll be considered a joke and/or a threat anyway). peta is making things worse (and in the process sadly ruining even their own positive contributions to reducing cruelty), but at the same time people should be honest and take responsibility for not being willing to hear the animal rights message anyway.

this is a LIE. cows (and women) will continue to give milk so long as they are milked (in general).

Uh… other way around. Breast milk is quite a bit lower in fat content than many other mammals because our children develop much slower.

“And the feminist sphere is in desperate need of better coverage of the animal rights movement and how AR and feminism are related. I just feel so frustrated because the only times I’ve seen mention of AR or veganism is when PETA launches another offensive campaign.”

Sorry but unless you were denied a job or a promotion because you’re a vegan it really doesn’t fit. Feminism is about human rights, not animal.

In response to the previous comments, killing animals merely for our palate is cruel. Testing medications and procedures on non-human animals is as well; they have no voices, they can’t give consent, there are alternatives, and is often inaccurate due to the biological differences between non-human animals and humans. Basically, I don’t believe in exploiting animals (human or non-human alike) for the “greater good,” our pleasure (entertainment, food, clothing, etc.) or our vanity. And the feminist sphere is in desperate need of better coverage of the animal rights movement and how AR and feminism are related. I just feel so frustrated because the only times I’ve seen mention of AR or veganism is when PETA launches another offensive campaign.