Willing Victim

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Willing Victim

Clarke Allen

Philosophy of Food

Dr. Williams

December 13, 2016

Willing Victim

I will argue that society has created similarities in the willing victim of meat and females. One reason for the similarities between meat and females is the creation of the willing victim in meat. When being portrayed as the wiling victims, animals are illustrated with happy emotions and usually making gestures or comments about how they wish to be consumed. This creates a false portrayal of happiness because in reality these animals go through extreme brutality and are murdered in order for humans to consume them. Some common ads that broadcast animals as the willing victim are the Real California Milk and Cheese Happy Cow commercials, and Barbecue restaurants ads.

The Real California Milk and Cheese Happy Cow commercials take the approach of placing the cows in the home, acting as part of the family. The add ends with saying, “Make us a part of your family.”[1] The cow seems happy in all these ads and willing to provide their milk for the profit of the farmer and to provide food for families. In “Sammi Hanratty Real California Milk Commercial,” the cow knows all of the gossip as a sister or friend would, and in “Real California Milk Commercial – Birthday Party” the cow is a part of the mischievous actions with the children.[2],[3] In both commercials the cow seems happy to be a part of the family and is treated like a human being. By creating this image, a person sees a cow happy to give up their milk for them in the same way that a parent would do anything to help their child. In reality, these cows undergo excruciating measures, such as impregnating procedures, to continue to produce milk at the rate the farmers would like. One study shows that each dairy cow produces about one hundred pounds of milk per day, “which is ten times more than cows living just a few decades ago.”[4] This high level of milk production can lead to a bacterial infection, mastitis, and swelling of the udders. Dairy cows consist of seventy-five percent of downed animals; meaning animals that are disabled and cannot support their legs.[5]

The farming industry is not the only industry to use animals as the willing victim to attract consumers. An example of a local barbecue house in Spartanburg, South Carolina that uses a willing victim ad is Smok’y Blues Barbeque. Their ad consists of two pigs dressed as blues singers while holding a plate of barbecue and ribs. The scent from the ribs and barbeque is drifting up above the pigs’ heads. With their nostrils flaring, the viewer of this ad infers that the pigs cannot resist the wonderful smell of the food before them.[6] The ad goes so far to suggest that these pigs are completely fine with being murdered and eaten. By having these pigs hold a plate of food with one hand and tongs in the other, they appear to be waiters, and thus servers. The pigs’ faces show delight in what they are doing and satisfaction with their life. In reality, these pigs do not live gracious lives. Naturally pigs are curious creatures, so keeping them in a closed environment for mass-production causes stress reactions, such as tail-biting. Tail-biting is a painful procedure where the pigs’ tail and teeth are cut off.[7] The barbeque house ads produce false emotions in the viewers.

Similar to animals, females are conveyed as the willing victim in a variety of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) ads and fast food commercials. PETA uses highly sexualized females to compare humans to animals in order to convince viewers to stop consuming meat. When doing this, they are using women as a willing victim to attract men’s attention to these ads because they consume more meat than woman. In this particular ad, the slogan reads “all animals have the same parts.”[8] The woman is posed like she is ready and sexually available. Her face draws the viewer in and is full of lust. The woman’s face emanates confidence because she is looking the straight in the camera.

While her face illustrates that she is willing to be there, full of lust and passion, she is being victimized. Each body part is sectioned off and labeled in black letters. Breaking her down to just body parts has broken her down to an object. Not only has she been demoted from a subject to an object, but she has also been stripped of power. The demotion to an object takes away power and so does the labeling of the woman’s body parts. Her body parts that are labeled, such as leg, ribs, and breast, are animal body parts people normally consume. The meat that people literally consume is being figuratively consumed in this ad. While her face is saying she is proud to be in the ad, the rest of the ad says otherwise.[9]

Also in fast food ads, such as Hardees, women are portrayed very sexually as they eat a big, juicy burger. A Hardees’ commercial staring Kate Upton shows how one burger can turn on a female and make her lose control of her emotions. Throughout the ad, Kate slowly loses her clothing, so in the end, she is showing a lot more skin than before she ate the hamburger. While she is eating the hamburger, her face illustrates to the viewer that she wants to be there and would not want to be anywhere else other than consuming this burger. Her face and reactions are full of lust and her actions resemble those of an orgasm. While she seems happy and willing to be in this ad, she is being victimized. Once again, there is a loss of power as a woman. The man watching this ad is figuratively consuming her as she is literally consuming the meat. This ad shows that she does not have any control over her emotions. She can to handle herself as continues to eat the burger. By not having control of her emotions she is unable to make logical decisions on her own.[10]

One might argue that the women in the ads are the opposite of powerless. These women are models and do this for a career. They have an agency standing behind them backing them up and they have the freedom to turn down commercials or ads they do not want to be a part of. Most commercials have the models sign a contract and when they sign this contract they are aware of what they are getting themselves into and everything the job involves. These models feel empowered by playing these roles because they feel like they are in control. In bigger cities, such as New York, models make around two hundred and fifty dollars an hour, which means around two thousand dollars for an eight-hour workday.[11]

However some of these women take these types of jobs because they have no other choice. In the movie Flesh, directed by Tami Wilson, the female who work at Hooters applied because she did not another option.[12] Working at a place like Hooters, they woman are serving as a willing victim. The majority of the customers at Hooters are males. While many of them eat their food literally, they are consuming the woman walking around metaphorically. The women are unaware of their loss of power because they believe since they are in the position of serving they can control the situation. In reality they are submitting themselves to the males because they are serving them and are there for the pleasure of the men.

Society has created undeniable similarities in the willing victim of meat and females. Animals are placed as the willing victim in order to portray a pleasant environment while companies tried to sell meat or meat products. Women are created as the willing victim by taking away their power and demoting them from a subject to an object. Creating these similarities places animals and females on the same level, while men are portrayed with more dominance. This certain mindset is hard to stop because of the long history of society being patriarchal.

Bibliography

“A Closer Look at Animals on Factory Farms.” ASPCA. Modified 2016. Accessed December 12, 2016. http://www.aspca.org/animal-cruelty/farm-animal-welfare/animals-factory-farms.

Drive In. Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s. From Youtube. 1 min. 7 secs.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DISmB6hksBI .

Flesh. Directed by Tami Wilson.(Cancouver, BC: Moving Images Distribution, 2006). DVD

“New Faces Modeling and Acting Advice.” New Faces. Accessed December 2, 2016. http://www.newfaces.com/acting-modeling-advice/AskAaron.php.

PETA. All Animals Have The Same Parts. http://veganfeministnetwork.com/tag/sexualization/.

Real California Milk- Birthday Party. Real California Milk. From Youtube. 31 secs.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5mmNiq_dfw .

Sammi Hanratty Real California Milk Commerical. Real California Milk. From Youtube. 30 sec.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cpIX83f2a4 .

Smok’y Blues Barbeque. Smok’y Blues Barbeque. https://www.zomato.com/greenville-sc/smokey-blues-bbq-spartanburg/menu .

[1] Sammi Hanratty Real California Milk Commerical, Real California Milk, from Youtube, 30 sec., https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cpIX83f2a4 .

[2] Ibid.

[3] Real California Milk- Birthday Party, Real California Milk, From Youtube, 31 secs., https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5mmNiq_dfw .

[4] “A Closer Look at Animals on Factory Farms,” ASPCA, modified 2016, accessed December 12, 2016, http://www.aspca.org/animal-cruelty/farm-animal-welfare/animals-factory-farms.

[5] Ibid.

[6] Smok’y Blues Barbeque, Smok’y Blues Barbeque, https://www.zomato.com/greenville-sc/smokey-blues-bbq-spartanburg/menu .

[7] “A Closer Look at Animals on Factory Farms,” ASPCA.

[8] PETA, All Animals Have The Same Parts, http://veganfeministnetwork.com/tag/sexualization/ .

[9] Ibid.

[10] Drive In, Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s, from Youtube, 1 min. 7 secs., https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DISmB6hksBI .

[11] “New Faces Modeling and Acting Advice,” New Faces, accessed December 2, 2016, http://www.newfaces.com/acting-modeling-advice/AskAaron.php.

[12] Flesh, directed by Tami Wilson, (Cancouver, BC: Moving Images Distribution, 2006), DVD.