People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, otherwise known as PETA, sparked intense online scrutiny after it claimed recently that eating cheese is “sexist” because the milk used to make the dairy product comes from female cows.
The animal-rights organization, known for promoting a vegan lifestyle and bashing people who don’t abide by one, wrote in a blog post that cheese is the "most sexist thing you can eat" because it’s the "product of imprisonment, rape, reproductive control, kidnapping, and abuse."
"Contrary to popular belief, female cows produce milk only when they’re pregnant or nursing. They make milk for the same reason that human women do: to feed their babies. Cows who are imprisoned on dairy farms are forcibly impregnated through artificial insemination again and again on rape racks,” the blog post stated.
"Rape racks. All for your milk, cheese, and yogurt,” it emphasized.
The post goes on to paint a grizzly picture of dairy farms and what female cows allegedly go through to produce milk and more calves. PETA wrote:
PETA investigations have shown that farm workers kick, whip, and jab laboring mother cows and others who had just given birth. Eyewitnesses also filmed workers attaching chains to unborn calves’ legs when their mothers had difficulty giving birth and yanking the babies out of their birth canals, causing the laboring cows to cry out.The mothers are not allowed to nurse their babies. Instead, their infants are stolen from them, usually within hours of birth. Male calves, who are considered worthless to the dairy industry, are often sold for veal. Otherwise, they’re raised to be killed for beef. Females are typically fed a milk replacement and eventually sentenced to the same sad fate as their mothers.
After their calves have been taken away from them, the mother cows are hooked up to milking machines two or more times a day. Through the use of intense milking regimes and sometimes drugs, their reproductive systems are exploited and they’re forced to produce much more milk than they normally would.
The effects that dairy farms have on cows is devastating, according to PETA. Effects include drastically shortened lifespans and being “spent” from the "strain of constant pregnancy, birth, and drastically increased lactation."
The blog post ends with an all too common PETA call-to-action: Become a vegan now.
"Help end violence, reproductive control, and rape of females of animal species who desperately need us to speak up for them. Try delicious plant-based milk, vegan cheese, and dairy-free yogurt,” the post said. "Mothers, and all females, deserve better."
The post and allegation — that eating cheese is “sexist” — was widely seen as absurd and PETA was mocked on social media:
— Brad Hayes (@aidendrakesdad) August 6, 2017
— Brad Hayes (@aidendrakesdad) August 6, 2017
— Franco (@DonCheech) August 6, 2017
— Faith Lopez🇺🇸 (@teenGOP1776) August 6, 2017
— Ham_hd (@Hamhd101) August 8, 2017
Vegan cheese... Worst tasting crap on the planet. Right after vegan sausage
— Steve (@SVH2) August 6, 2017
Others found the post to be hypocritical because PETA has a dark history of slaughtering animals.
...and PETA kills thousands of animals every yesr. Hypocrites.
— Mike Lee (@munkdrike) August 7, 2017
Indeed, according to a viral story about PETA at the Huffington Post from 2013, the organization kills most of the animals that come through their doors, all the while advocating to be an organization that fights for animal rights.
