Joan Jett has urged feminists to fight for animals’ reproductive rights as well as their own, arguing that “we are all sisters under the skin”.
In a new video for PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals), the punk legend – who is vegan – explained: “We are daughters, sisters and mothers. We all feel pain and fear and love.
“And if any of us were forcibly bred or had our breast milk or eggs taken and sold or our children stolen from us to be experimented on, we’d all feel violated and angry and heartbroken.”
Jett continued: “Ask yourself: ‘Would I wish this fate on my mother or my sister, or me? We are all sisters under the skin. End speciesism!”
The advert sees a photograph of the singer-songwriter morph into images of various women and other female animals as her voiceover plays out.
PETA said: “THIS feminist icon and rock legend is calling for solidarity with ALL species. Watch her powerful public service announcement as she stands up for animals everywhere.”
The US animal rights nonprofit added in a post about Jett’s video that “real feminists support animal rights”, and highlighted the exploitation of female animals within “the meat, egg and dairy industries”.
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It continued: “In the dairy industry, workers forcibly inseminate (rape) cows by inserting an arm into the animal’s rectum to deliver semen with a metal rod into her vagina. Like all mothers, cows are nurturing and protective of their precious babies – but on dairy farms, workers often tear newborn calves away from their mothers within hours of birth.
“In the egg industry, farms – even the ones labelled ‘cage-free’ – typically confine hens to no more than a square foot of space and cut part of their beaks off with a hot blade. Once their bodies wear out and they’re no longer deemed profitable, workers kill them on site or send them off to slaughter.”
The post concluded: “The meat industry confines mother pigs to cramped metal crates for their entire adult lives – and a PETA exposé of a pig farm revealed that piglets slowly died just out of reach of their distraught mothers.”
Jett has been working with PETA for over a decade. In her first print ad for the organisation in 2012, she said (via Billboard): “A meatless diet saves animals from suffering, combats environmental destruction, and is better for my health.”
In 2022, Jett spoke on PETA’s behalf at SeaWorld’s virtual annual shareholders meeting – where she advocated for an end to the theme park’s “sordid breeding program”.
“SeaWorld has caused public outrage by continuing to forcibly breed bottlenose dolphins and beluga whales in order to create generations of animals who then suffer in cramped tanks, deprived of any semblance of a natural life,” she explained.
Speaking to NME in 2018, Jett was asked whether she saw herself as a “feminist icon”. She responded: “When I was starting out in the Runaways, we took a lot of shit from feminists.
“All teenage girls think about sex, but a lot of women felt we were using our sexuality. We were just acknowledging what all girls go through and took shit for it. It was very confusing. I didn’t quite get it.”
She went on: “I don’t know if I call myself a feminist. Those labels don’t really feel complete to me. Everyone’s definition of feminism is different. If feminism means being equal and being able to do whatever you set your mind to, then yes. That shouldn’t be based on your gender.”
The Blackhearts artist also talked to NME in 2022. At the time, she recalled the Runaways wearing “blood packs” that spurted fake gore over the stage when playing ‘Dead End Justice’.
However, she said “everyone focuses on the corset” that singer Cherie Currie sported for ‘Cherry Bomb’.
Jett added: “All these ‘strong’ women that say, ‘Oh, you can do anything’? No, you can’t! Because I got shit for it from feminists and I’m like, ‘Wait a minute – I thought you just told me I could do anything I wanted?’ I’m doing what I want, and I’m sorry if it appeals to men, but it also appeals to women!
“What can I say? I’m not trying to appeal to a sex; I’m trying to appeal to anyone. I’m trying to make connection.”
Elsewhere in the conversation, she hit out at US rock troll Ted Nugent, who had criticised a Rolling Stone countdown of the “100 Greatest Guitarists” – insisting that Jett didn’t deserve to be on the list.
“Well, that’s just typical – it’s what I’ve dealt with my whole life, being written off,” Jett told NME.
In other news, Pharrell Williams‘ London screening of his new biopic Piece By Piece was disrupted by a group of PETA protesters last Sunday (October 20). They unfurled a banner that read: “Pharrell: Stop Supporting Killing Animals For Fashion” – referring to his role as the men’s creative director of Louis Vuitton.
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