Sunday, February 28, 2010

I'd Rather Go Naked

Today my boyfriend celebrated his 22nd birthday. Exactly a year ago, on his 21st birthday, he got to meet the man his mother named him after. Tommy Lee from Motley Crue walked into the club where my boyfriend, Tommy Lee Stevens, and his friend were celebrating the big night. Tommy Lee actually wound up taking my boyfriend’s seat in the V.I.P. section. After some trash talking from my Tommy toward Motley Crue’s Tommy Lee for taking his seat, Tommy Lee laughed and invited Tommy to sit with him and have some drinks. By the end of the night, Tommy Lee had given him two back stage passes to their concert the next night at the New Orleans Arena, where my boyfriend partied with Tommy Lee after the show. All-in-all, it made for a pretty awesome 21st birthday.

But, with it being February 28th again, I started thinking about the whole event and wondering what kinds of things Tommy Lee was up to when he wasn’t on stage. After a moment or two on Google, I came across this picture.



Tommy Lee, who learned about PETA through his ex-wife and longtime animal advocate Pamela Anderson, posed for PETA’s “I’d Rather Go Naked Than Wear Fur” campaign. The advertisement was unveiled on August 15, 2005 at Home, a nightclub in New York that showed its support for PETA’s campaign by announcing a no fur door policy. Steve Lewis, the man who runs the nightclub, said that he would train his doormen to deny entrance to anyone wearing fur. “People come here to have fun,” says Lewis. “Fur is a buzz kill.”

Here is a video of Tommy Lee in an interview with PETA:



Other musical artists such as Mario, Danity Kane, Simple Plan, and Peaches have also posed to be in advertisements for this campaign. However, not all celebrities are against wearing fur. Celebrities who wear fur are often criticized and questioned by PETA.

---Dear J.Lo

---Dear Beyonce

---Kanye West was criticized by PETA for wearing fur at Men's Fashion Week in Paris. Vice President of PETA, Dan Matthews, said in a statement: “Kanye can't help making himself look like an idiot, whether at an awards show or a fashion show. He and his girlfriend look like pathetic creatures from a shabby roadside zoo." Kanye West responded by posting the following message in his blog: "When it's all said and done, remember the fearless, remember the dreamers, remember those who represent the ghetto ... The fairy tale of nothing to something," Kanye wrote. "I'm briefly saddened by negative comments, but I have to remember those people are scared, incapable or just plain idiots. We are the f***ing rock stars baby. No cocaine, just life my n****s!! No cocaine, just life! It's funny to me when fashion bloggers down our outfits and then super jock outlandish sh** on the runway, but they dress mad prude and don't live fashion."

---Lindsey Lohan was flour bombed by a member of PETA for wearing a fur coat in Paris. The member of PETA called Lohan a "Fur Hag" before running from security.


---The issue has even caused artists to lash out towards fellow artists for their clothing choices. For example, Pink bashes Beyonce for continuously wearing fur. Pink says, "Some of the practices are so cruel and as a celebrity you have a responsibility to think about the message you're sending out by wearing fur. People will think it's OK or cool, but it's not. I only hope she gets bit on the ass by whatever animal she wears."

Animal rights are an extremely controversial topic, and are even more so in the world of celebrities who are often "setting an example" for the men, women, teens, and children who adore them.

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5 comments:

  1. Aww Sonja, this particular blog post is sad, but funny. Those videos and quotes are hilarious, especially the one about Lindsey Lohan. I use to not care about a person wearing fur or not but with this post you have me reconsidering my thoughts about this issue. Therefore, I Robyn Paige'is no longer wearing fur. =)Thanks Sonja, oh and tell your boyfriend, Happy Belated Birthday!

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  2. Haha I will! =]

    I know what you mean though. I'd never really thought that much about the issue because I never wore fur or had any strong desire to. But, I think PETA has a pretty effective campaign, and they certainly made me feel strongly on the issue. Some of the ads are playful and maybe even flirty to attract specific audiences, but some of the images are extremely disheartening and can really make a person think twice about what they wear. Wearing fur is such an easy thing to NOT do that I don't understand why so many people still insist on wearing it even after they see and hear some of the horrific images and stories about animal brutality. It's nothing like going vegetarian where you have to almost completely alter your lifestyle. That's a hard thing for many people to do, including myself, but turning down a fur coat is to simple not to do.

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  3. I wonder if tommy lee really cares about people wearing fur because he really CARES or because his wife is a big part of it and making him do it? haha.

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  4. Ghandi said "The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated."

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  5. You're right, countless celebrities have taken to this "I'd rather go naked than wear fur" cause, and honestly, I'm glad they have.

    For whatever reason, this cause is something that slips my mind since I dont wear fur, until I hear of some celebrity in the news criticizing another celeb for wearing fur.

    Animal cruelty is something that should be brought to light more often. Thousands of animals die in abuse shelters when they should never have been in there in the first place.

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