AR-News: NY Times: Forbidden Fur

[DTanzer16 at aol.com]

PLEASE CROSS POST

PLEASE NOTE: Suggestions for alternative uses for the old furs are requested. 
 Perhaps some wildlife rehabbers who cut them up and use them for orphaned 
babies (including rurning the sleeves inside out for the babies to burrow in) or 
shelter managers who cut them and use them for extra warmth for e.g. feline 
leuk positive cats could respond to this.

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The Ethicist: Forbidden Fur

March 21, 2004
By RANDY COHEN 



Cleaning out the closets of the house we inherited from my
husband's great-aunt, we found several fur coats. It didn't
seem right to stuff them in the Goodwill bag, so we kept
them. I would never buy a new fur, but is it wrong to wear
an old one I didn't pay for, as a parody of
fashion-conscious women who do? (Does parody count if I'm
the only one who knows it's parody?) If it's wrong to wear
the furs, what should I do with them? Hattie Fletcher,
Pittsburgh 

You certainly should not wear a new fur. A case can be made
for some exploitation of animals -- as food or in important
medical research -- when there is no meaningful
alternative, and when their suffering is minimized. But
there is no justification for harming animals to make
something as frivolous as a fur coat. An old fur, however,
is a different matter, although not for the reasons you
offer. 

It's insignificant that the fur was a gift: the animals
that suffered don't care who pays the bill. And you are
rightly wary of the parody defense too, easily invoked by
those who, for example, construct a racist parade float and
when criticized say it's satire. How does an ordinary fur
suddenly become a parody of itself? Are the words ''I Am
Heartless and Vain'' shaved into the back? Now, a coat made
of live weasels or raw veal. . . . 

A more persuasive rationale for keeping the fur is that an
attic coat can be grandfathered in (great-aunted in?). It
already exists: you do no good by tossing it in the trash;
you do no obvious harm by wearing it. Except this --
appearing in fur announces that doing so is acceptable. You
are voting with your feet (if the coat is much too long for
you). Your wearing the great-aunt's fur does not injure any
animals, but it does injure us: it coarsens our
sensibilities as it declares our values. 

Thus, if we concede the moral high ground to the Fur Is
Murder (or at least Wanton Cruelty) crowd, you may not wear
any new fur, but you may use -- discreetly, privately -- an
old fur, a found fur. If everyone follows that rule, the
fur trade withers. Use it how, you ask? Make it into fur
socks or a bathroom rug or an unseen lining for a cloth
coat -- utility without propaganda. And perhaps readers can
suggest other uses for this old fur. Ideas can be sent to
the column. 

Must I explain that I'm a gay man with a partner when I
R.S.V.P. to an invitation to me and my ''wife'' or
''spouse''? In the past, I would reply that I had a
boyfriend I would like to bring. However, I didn't like the
feeling that I was asking permission. I know some
companies, like Sandals resorts, turn away gay couples. I
wouldn't want to encounter a situation like this by not
telling the inviter. Louis Tharp, Upper Nyack, N.Y. 

Your host has a legitimate interest in knowing only if
you're coming solo or accompanied or not at all. You
wouldn't specify your partner's religion or race; there's
no duty to specify sex. However (a disheartening word),
what ethics doesn't require, self-protection permits. If
you want to avoid what you believe will be an ugly
encounter, you can alert your host that you are part of a
gay couple. It is exasperating that it may be prudent to do
so, but the world being what it is, you have the right to
decide which battles to fight and which to forestall. 

Another option (and my preferred tactic) when you make a
reservation at a bigoted place like Sandals: do so without
offering details, then show up with your partner and your
lawyer and your camera crew (and of course plenty of
sunblock). 

Send your queries to ethicist at nytimes.com or The Ethicist,
The New York Times Magazine, 229 West 43rd Street, New
York, N.Y. 10036, and include a daytime phone number. 

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/21/magazine/21ETHICIST.html?ex=1080973834&ei=1&
en=42f20dba9d89632c


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