Siouxsie Sioux for the Legendary LYNX

Posted by on Friday, January 27, 2012 · 3 Comments  

There is a fantastic article on the legacy of LYNX, the anti-fur organization that brought down the fur-farming industry in England, starting in the 1980′s in the Sadbury Mercury. LYNX was possibly the first organization to use hard-hitting ads, celebrities and models in their efforts, setting the tone for organizations that followed.

 

Fur farming in Britain never recovered from the body-blow Lynx dealt it and was outlawed in 2003. Consumer attitudes to the wearing of fur were also changed irrevocably. It is no longer seen as acceptable on any meaningful scale.

 

Lynne Kentish, who lives in Bury St Edmunds, looks back on Lynx’s achievements with enormous pride.

 

Read the full article, How Lynx set the fur flying, here.

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  • Jacqueline Keller

    I’m not
    familiar with the group LYNX, and while I’m stoked about Siouxie Sioux being
    involved in an anti-fur ad, not so much into their campaign’s flagrant usage of
    Bitch, as it perpetuates the normalization of that word when in most contexts
    it’s no longer acceptable to use (in public, in ads, at work, outside of close
    friends and hip hop), least of all within the animal rights movement, which
    desperately needs to keep itself in check of sexism/misogyny and other
    problematic privileges that are often overlooked in the name of fighting
    speciesism.

  • Jacqueline Keller

    I’m not
    familiar with the group LYNX, and while I’m stoked about Siouxie Sioux being
    involved in an anti-fur ad, not so much into their campaign’s flagrant usage of
    Bitch, as it perpetuates the normalization of that word when in most contexts
    it’s no longer acceptable to use (in public, in ads, at work, outside of close
    friends and hip hop), least of all within the animal rights movement, which
    desperately needs to keep itself in check of sexism/misogyny and other
    problematic privileges that are often overlooked in the name of fighting
    speciesism.

    • http://www.thediscerningbrute.com Joshua Katcher

      Hey Jacqueline, I think the campaign could have been just as effective with “Rich Girl” “Poor Girl” or “Rich Beast” “Poor Beast”. This is a piece of 80s history, so its not like its going to get changed, you know? That being said, I disagree with your observation “that word when in most contexts it’s no longer acceptable to use”. I think it’s much more of a grey area than clear-cut as you claim. I hear it in a hundred different contexts a day, whether it’s my gay male friends “Hey bitches” or girlfriends that call each other bitch in an endearing way, or feminists who have reclaimed it and use it as mark of power.. I just heard a woman in the elevator say to her friend on the phone “I’m the bitch in charge”. Isn’t there a feminist magazine by the name of Bitch? I think the word has lost most of its umph and scandalousness, which is a good thing, no? From an ad perspective, we have to look at in an a historical context. It’s obvious why they chose the word, a female fox is a “bitch” and a “rich bitch” is a negative term for a woman who flaunts her money in an arrogant way. 

      Considering that an intelligent woman made the ad, I’d be curious to get her opinion on the intention…

      I am open to being completely wrong, but I’d love to hear more of your opinion on this.