People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) believes that if you use “anti-animal” language like “don’t beat a dead horse,” you might as well use racist language like referring to a black person as the n-word.
PETA compared what they call “speciesism” or “anti-animal” language to using racist language or homophobic language.
“Words matter, and as our understanding of social justice evolves, our language evolves along with it. Here’s how to remove speciesism from your daily conversations,” the organization wrote.
The tweet provided a colorful chart that gave examples of what they consider to be anti-animal language along with suggestions for substitutions people can use to avoid “speciesim.”
They followed up with a second tweet that said, “Just as it became unacceptable to use racist, homophobic, or ableist language, phrases that trivialize cruelty to animals will vanish as more people begin to appreciate animals for who they are and start ‘bringing home the bagels’ instead of the bacon.”
Did PETA take it too far with comparing “speciesim” to racism?
