Fur

[Queen Kat]

It seems that fur is being "fashionable" again, but what do we actually think about it? Last Saturday at a family party for example I noticed all of my cousins wearing some kind of (real!) fur and one of my cousins was showing off a dead fox he bought on the market. I personally really detest fur and as I find it pretty much immoral, I nearly considered going vegan the next day just to tease my cousins. Are my cousins, aunts and uncles the only people who love fur, or am I just being a sissy?

Edit: Leather doesn't count here, because that's just slaughter garbage. I'm talking about skins from animals that were exclusively killed for their fur. Also, I'm talking about the Western society here. In some cultures fur is totally acceptable, so that doesn't count here.

 

[DiscoBiscuit]

I love my leather goods.

 

[Queen Kat]

I'm not talking about leather.

 

[DiscoBiscuit]

All things in moderation.

 

[JocktheMotie]

Fur is comfy and feels nice. I don't see how it's immoral.

Although I'm a dude so I don't think I'd wear one.

 

[erm]

Edit: Leather doesn't count here, because that's just slaughter garbage. I'm talking about skins from animals that were exclusively killed for their fur. Also, I'm talking about the Western society here. In some cultures fur is totally acceptable, so that doesn't count here.

Wait, so killing for unnecessary food and leather is fine, but killing for fur is not? I'm having trouble understanding such an opinion.

 

[Zoom]

I can imagine liking a fleece (sheep's fur) lining for a nice leather aviator's or cropped jacket, because it is extremely useful and practical. Most types of fur are entirely unnecessary and expensively silly, though.

Leather is lovely. Mmm, steel toed boots and warm jackets.

 

[Randomnity]

From what I understand animals killed for fur are treated much more humanely than animals killed for food.

I haven't really thought about it though, because fur is way too expensive for me to think about for a long time, if ever. I wouldn't have a moral problem with it if I somehow got it as a gift. A strike in its favour, it's surely a lot more eco-friendly than the plastics you find in normal winter coats. Probably lasts longer, too.

I think being anti-fur is a little silly if it's not tied into being anti-animal products and meat in general. They're cute and fuzzy, but that doesn't make killing them immoral.

I don't like any of the options on the poll so I'm not voting. I'm not indifferent, but I don't "love fur", and I wouldn't avoid wearing it. It would probably be a positive thing but balanced by the exorbitant cost and often silly look, so I probably wouldn't buy it unless it was super cheap.

 

[rav3n]

Anti-fur, even though it's lovely.

We use almost all body parts of the animals we consume. Not much, if any, gets used on a fur bearing animal beyond skin unless this has changed. IF we used the rest of the their bodies such as consuming the meat and using bone for glue, it wouldn't bother me.

Not anti-hunting in general, as long as it's solely to cull over-growing numbers of animals, where the hunters consume what they kill.

 

[Queen Kat]

Wait, so killing for unnecessary food and leather is fine, but killing for fur is not? I'm having trouble understanding such an opinion.

Animals kill for food too and human kind couldn't have gotten such a huge brain without eating meat. Killing just for fur is pretty much unknown in nature and in modern days it's even unnecessary. Besides, I'd rather have someone kill me because they were hungry than being killed because they want to make a coat out of my skin.

 

[ajblaise]

I'm anti-fur, both for killing animals to be fashion accessories for women, and I'm anti-fur growing on women's bodies. They need to be sheared humanely... both the animals and women.

 

[Within]

I don't really like how fur looks or feels, but I have to wear it in my profession in order to bestow respect amongst my women and rivaling traders. Does that make me immoral, I think not.

 

[erm]

Animals kill for food too and human kind couldn't have gotten such a huge brain without eating meat.

Animals do it so humans should too? Animals rape and kill (for fun) too you know. Animals do lots and lots of other things I hopefully don't need to list...

I doubt eating meat was anything other than a necessity in harsh times (suggested by human's mostly herbivorous anatomy), not something required for the evolution of a large brain. The strongest theory going for large brain evolution is bipedalism, and the resulting dexterity for controlling hands, and that's a pretty weak theory in itself. Meat certainly isn't required to maintain a large brain (as any vegetarian or vegan can demonstrate).

Killing just for fur is pretty much unknown in nature and in modern days it's even unnecessary.

I'm pretty sure humans have used fur for survival, in colder climates at least. Meat eating is unnecessary in every first-world country, again as people who don't eat meat demonstrate.

Besides, I'd rather have someone kill me because they were hungry than being killed because they want to make a coat out of my skin.

All right, but it still leaves out leather. Plenty of animals are killed solely to make leather, or at least wouldn't be killed if the demand for leather dropped.

EDIT: That's "kill for fun" (as in, not for food or survival) and rape, not "rape for fun". Sorry for the ambiguity.

 

[ajblaise]

Animals kill for food too and human kind couldn't have gotten such a huge brain without eating meat.

Animals do it so humans should too? Animals rape and kill (for fun) too you know. Animals do lots and lots of other things I hopefully don't need to list...

Yeah, why don't we have a dolphin underwater gang rape session right here?!

 

[erm]

Yeah, why don't we have a dolphin underwater gang rape session right here?!

Rape isn't funny. Dolphins often rape but ducks are a more common place example of efficient and brutal gang rape. It's not a nice sight to see a goose rape a duck either, let alone the damn swans.

The lake looked so beautiful and tranquil too

 

[ajblaise]

Rape isn't funny. Dolphins often rape but ducks are a more common place example of efficient gang rape. It's not a nice sight to see a goose rape a duck either.

The lake looked so beautiful and tranquil too

Hmm I didn't know ducks took part in that. My childhood visits to the duck feeding pond seem less innocent now.

 

[Tallulah]

In this day and age, we hardly need fur coats to keep warm. It's a choice. There are plenty of synthetic fabrics that can keep you warm. Fur is a fashion statement, and it sickens me to think of animals being killed for fashion in 2010.

 

[rav3n]

Any ducks or geese found guilty of rape should be sentenced to the roasting pan. Mmmm...peking duck and roast goose. Mmmm...sliced duck breast on a wild green salad with a mandarin and honey vinaigrette.

 

[Oberon]

Fur is no longer taken from wild animals in any quantity... it's taken from animals raised in captivity for the express purpose of producing fur.

I'm not sure it's immoral to kill an animal for its fur when, if it wasn't for the fur industry, that animal would never have existed at all.

 

[Phantonym]

Fur is beautiful, but it's more beautiful on a living and free animal and I'm not too crazy about the idea of wearing it. It's not a necessity, so in that case it's a luxury item for show, and the thought of how these animals are actually kept, sometimes in absolutely disgusting conditions, does not make me warm up to the idea. If the conditions were guaranteed to be humane, it's on the people's conscience if they choose to profit from it or wear it. That's life.