Rachel Chatwood Comp II Sect I Assignment I February 23, 2013

http://tinyurl.com/ajfgts6

Victims of Everyday Fashion

According to the article Slaughtered and Skinned, More than 139 million cows, calves, sheep, lambs, and pigs are killed for food each year, and skin accounts for roughly 50% of the total byproduct value of cattlethe meat industry relies heavily on skin sales to remain profitable (bornfreeusa.org). The image above is trying to tell us that cows are important so we shouldnt kill them off just to have something that we could amend and find other alternatives. Cows are used to provide dairy products which contain calcium that our bodies need. We already kill off a sizeable amount of cows to provide beef for nourishment. Instead of getting a leather jacket or leather boots, we should get them made of a different material. To get under peoples skin, the creator(s) of the image above compared wearing leather to wearing dead skin. They want to appeal to their audiences ethos, or ethical appeal. Their audience is all of the people who wear leather and even those who know people who wear leather. They want their audience to feel as if wearing leather is wrong. And in a way, it is. Millions and millions of animals lives are cut short so that we can use them for our many wants and needs. Using animals to survive in life is something that has been done since the beginning of time. We humans have always done what we have to in order to survive with any species-that is the way of thinking. Using cows for beef is one of the ways we survive and using them to make leather is one of the ways we keep warm. Leather isn't

only made from cows. It can be made from ...pigs, goats, and sheep; exotic animals such as alligators, ostriches, and kangaroos; and even dogs and cats...because leather is normally not labeled, you never really know where (or whom) it came from (peta.org). The picture above uses the image of a baby cow to appeal to the audiences pathos, or emotional appeal. Usually when people are around baby animals they treat them as if they are fragile and never harm them. The baby cow is sticking its head through a space in the fence posts. They title the photo fashion victim because it's a fashion term. It's a person that wears an article of clothing that makes you wonder what were they thinking? In the image above, victim is emboldened changing the meaning of fashion victim. In the sense of the image above, cows are a victim to fashion. Their skin is used to make the leather which is mainly used in the fashion industry. It is a clothing item that never seems to go out of fashion. The image also appeals to the audiences' pathos by telling you that you're wearing dead skin. The creators of the picture want to get the audience to think about whether or not they want to wear dead skin. The fashion industry does a lot of advertisements with leather, but do they ever wonder about the leather they are using and where it comes from? A lot of people don't think about the process that goes into creating the things they eat, use, or wear. They don't think about the abuse some animals go through in the preparation for butchering or the working conditions for the people who make the things they eat, use, or wear. We should take this into consideration when we are wearing pure leather. We are wearing a product from an animal that endured cruel treatment and then died afterward. We already use a great number of the animals used to make leather for their meat. If we cut back on buying leather, maybe we can save the environment and even the people that have to endure the effects that producing leather can cause. Some non leather products have been made that are just as nice, but much, much cheaper. Although some leathermakers deceptively tout their products as eco-friendly, turning skin into leather also requires massive amounts of energy and dangerous chemicals, including mineral salts,

formaldehyde, coal-tar derivatives, and various oils, dyes, and finishes, some of them cyanide-based. Most leather produced in the U.S. is chrome-tanned; all wastes containing chromium are considered hazardous by the EPA. Tannery effluent contains large amounts of pollutants, such as salt, lime sludge, sulfides, and acids. The process of tanning stabilizes the collagen or protein fibers in skins so that they actually stop biodegradingotherwise the leather would rot right off your feet. People who work in or live near tanneries suffer too. Many die from cancer possibly caused by exposure to toxic chemicals used to process and dye the leather. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that the incidence of leukemia among residents in an area near one tannery in Kentucky was five times the U.S. average (peta.org). Because the process of tanning leather is harmful to the environment, the animals, the people in the vicinity of the factories creating leather, and the workers who create it, we should consider alternative sources for leather. Some may argue that the cows are being sacrificed anyway, but do we want the environment to suffer also? Some well-known clothing and shoe brands that sell non leather products are: Adidas, Capezio tap and dance shoe wear, Charlotte Russe, Converse, Crocs, Dansko, DSW, Hot Topic, JCPenney, JustFab, Kohl's, L.E.I. Jeans, Nike, (peta.org) and many, many more. These companies are finding alternatives to using animals for leather. We need to find alternatives to leather because the process of creating leather could destroy the environment and even cities and towns. These animals used to make leather are an important factor in most of our everyday lives. A lot of our favorite meals come from pigs and cowsmilk, ice cream, bacon, hot dogs, etc. If we were to lose our source of meat, it would be really hard for us to go without it. We've been eating it for so long and having to adapt to other forms of living will be hard also. Everyone has experienced change and they know that it can be awkward and difficult at first. Eventually you get through the change and learn to like it. We can turn these alternative leather products into fashion. They may not be the real thing, but they look just as good!

Works Cited
"Environmental Hazards of Leather." Peta.org. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, n.d. Web. 24 Feb. 2013. <http://www.peta.org/issues/animals-used-for-clothing/leather-environmentalhazards.aspx>. "The Leather Industry." Peta.org. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, n.d. Web. 08 Feb. 2013. <http://www.peta.org/issues/animals-used-for-clothing/leather-industry.aspx>. "Peta's Shopping Guide to Compassionate Clothing." Peta.org. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, n.d. Web. 08 Feb. 2013. <http://www.peta.org/living/fashion/cruelty-free-clothingguide.aspx>. "Slaughtered and Skinned." Animal Issues 33.3 (2002): n. pag. Born Free USA. Born Free USA. Web. 06 Feb. 2013. <http://www.bornfreeusa.org/articles.php?more=1&p=370>.This page doesn't have a publisher, but it has some great information about cows and other animals and what happens to them.