In the latest PETA campaign against cruelty to animals, 19 year old Christian Serratos (from Twillight) shows off her naked self in a dark forest, vowing that she would rather go naked than wear fur. This ad is odd to me for many reasons. First, in the United States, who the heck is going to be convinced to no longer wear fur simply because this naked actress said she doesn’t? Fur sales have declined over the years for many reasons- it’s no longer fashionable, it’s super expensive, people often throw red paint on the article of clothing. Really, there are probably other instances of animal cruelty and exploitation that need attention: the thousands of animals killed each day owing to deforestation, puppy mills, abuse of pets, etc. Is fur really that big of a deal in the United States? I think not. So, why the naked girl? Simply put, PETA uses shock value and sex in order to get more attention, no matter who it offends, and how little it does to help their cause. PETA crosses so many boundaries and offends so many with sexist ads, that it makes spiteful types like me think that wearing leather and eating a lamb chop is essentially a feminist action. Frankly I don’t think all the ads really help, but rather incite resentment among potential allies. Now, it would be one thing to blatantly exploit women and men equally, but they don’t! For their Save the Seals T-Shirt campaign, two slightly famous men modeled the t-shit from their chest up, whereas two Playboy bunnies modeled the shirts, mid-thigh up, without wearing anything to cover their vegetarian booty’s. PETA does not have men pose naked for their ads, just women. And ultimately that is my main concern, not with just PETA but with other organizations as well. I understand that it can be difficult for an organization to get people pay attention to the cause, but trampling on other social causes is not the way to convert people. By exploiting women’s bodies time and time again in a variety of ads, PETA announces that the dignity of furry animals is more important than the dignity of a female human being. I think it’s really unfortunate that Serratos feels that baring her body is the way that she can help the cause, and I think it really sucks that PETA was more than fine to let this barely legal actress do so, as it has done with other female models and actresses in the past. It sends the wrong message to women that the best thing you can do to promote a cause is to get naked. Just because a cause is moral, that does not mean all actions meant to reach that ultimate vision are justified. Exploiting one thing to help another taints both causes, and gives us no real progress.