Saturated fat and cholesterol have their health problems, but weight gain isn't really among them.

So you think Jessica Simpson isn't concerned about being fat? Because it seems to me that the PETA response was about her t-shirt, right? Simpson hardly being an advocate for a revoluation in body image, I take the comments as being directed towards those who think like she does. Given that a large percentage of women in the US actually ARE obsessed with their weight, the comment doesn't seem misplaced at all. I don't think that way, but I'm not self-directed enough to think that nobody else does, and thus the comment must necessarily be an insult.

Try to keep in mind the audience they're targeting, and try not to think that every public statement is aimed at you in particular. Your blood pressure will thank you.

Animals that are currently raised for food are not suitable for living in the wild or to be kept as pets.

The vegetarian solution is extinction for these unfortunate beasts.

If you ask them, they will let you know.

Animals and plants are destined to be eaten, consumed and recycled by other animals and plants. PETA abhors nature.

Then again, is was founded as a counter-culture joke . It just got out of hand, unlike Ladies Against Women (L.A.W.), the Bozonati, the Pig running for President (pigasus) and Youth in Asia/Jump for Jesus.

We really should treat domesticated animals better, but that includes humans, and no one is protesting the abuses that are heaped upon them.

If eating meat is so bad, then why are there so many imitation meat products on the market? I'll take a good vegetarian meal over seitan or soybugers anyday.

Please, I'm sick and tired of people claiming to speak for all women. You do not speak for me. I do not feel exploited and I contribute to PETA every paycheck. I support them because they stand up for animals, the most exploited, tortured group on this miserable planet.

I hear this word bandied-around an awful lot, often used in contexts that completely debase its meaning.

Exactly how are women being exploited here?

Annsley, Is your self-esteem really so weak that an unkind aside from PETA (hah!) makes you feel bad about yourself?

Also, if "name-calling and bitchy superiority" aren't the best ways to recruit, why are these tones so prominent throughout the feminist press?

With executing people for crimes against animals but not for crimes against people. People are the disease.

When I read this Broadsheet entry, all I could think of was this:

http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.com/2008/05/28/101-being-offended/

yeah. that about sums it up.

Then don't support PETA. Their stated position is the extinction of all companion animals.

I asked a friend with pets who supported PETA if she was OK with that, and she said that if it would prevent any animal suffering, she'd never have another pet. I ALMOST said "well, would you never have children if it would prevent any child from suffering?" but she had fertility problems, so I couldn't do that.

I support breed rescue groups and LOCAL shelters. PETA, HSUS do NOTHING to alleviate the suffering of any individual animal. They don't support/help local shelters either.

Hi, I'm the editor of Broadsheet, and I just want to make two clarifications: savadi, no one posting here purports to speak for all women. In fact, we aim to write on topics about which there are a multiplicity of opinions. This space is intended to discuss them. Linney, I'm not sure what "feminist press" you're referring to, but bitchy superiority and name-calling are things we all aim to avoid -- though personally I know sometimes I fail.

PETA's response is on target and to say that it "exploits" women is ridiculous.

It's true that humans evolved as omnivores and, although a vegetarian, I see nothing wrong with meat-eating per se. I do think the factory farm system is horrendously cruel and I wish more meat-eaters would watch the videos taken undercover by PETA and the Humane Society of the United States before chowing down the next hamburger or chicken nugget.

PETA may be over the top at times but I believe they have done more than any other organization to publicize the cruelties commited against animals in labs, fur farms, and factory farms.

http://www.petakillsanimals.com/

Saturated fat doesn't cause weight gain? Believe me, start eating a diet chock full of butter, ice cream, cheese, egg yolks, mayonnaise, cream/sour cream, bacon, sausages, fatty meats, cakes, cookies, pastries, donuts, other crappy snacks, fast food etc., and watch your scale erupt. A high-fat diet, especially one heavy in saturated fats, is a really great way to gain weight.

Did you perhaps mean that saturated fats cause other serious health problems *besides* just weight gain? Because that is 100% true. I'm not being facetious, merely asking you to expand (no pun intended) on your position.

Meat is not just a choice for some people. Not everyone can live on vegetable protein.

I want staunch vegetarians to recognize the fact that plant protein from legumes contains estrogens that are not necessarily good for everyone.

I found this out the hard way myself and it cost me four years on prednisone and that was a really really really horrible experience that I wouldn't want to happen to anyone else.

Phytoestrogens trigger an autoimmune illness I didn't even know I had until I tried to become a vegetarian.

As a staunch vegetarian who sobs over Pedigree commercials and makes a mean tofu salad, I sympathize with PETA's dismay over people who make light of animal cruelty, though I personally won't harp on meat eaters as long as they don't make fun of me for bringing veggie burgers to their barbecue.

If you put your veggie burger on MY grill, I am going to HAVE to complain, because your veggie burger will probably leave traces of phytoestrogens stuck to my grill, and then I won't be able to cook my lamb chops on it until it's been cleaned.