To Fur or not To Fur
What exactly is the question we should
be asking?
“Fur!” What feelings and
emotions come to mind when you think of this word? Do you imagine yourself
wearing the latest luxury piece that just came off the runway from Chloe, does
it fill you with excitement and elation to picture yourself walking down the
street wearing such a piece? Or does the word fill you with dread and disgust
to envision yourself wearing something that was once on the backs of an
innocent animal.
Fur has played a dominant role in the
fashion industry, it is a fabric that helps designers express original and
ground-breaking designs, and it is seen as a major essential down the runway
for many designers. However, history also shows how fur has been shunned and
rejected by many people, those in the fashion industry and even those who are
not are opening their eyes and seeing the price they are paying for a new coat,
or a designer handbag, and I can assure you it is not the price tag that takes
a heavy toll.
In the past, fur was traditionally seen as a
source of warmness and security for many people. For centuries, animals were
killed for their meat as a means of survival, they would then use the pelts as
a realistic and robust material to protect them from the harsh environment,
nothing else provided them with such a degree of warmth that it was seen as
invaluable. But, then the 20th century rolled around and people
started using the same fabrics that were once used as their only source of
survival, are now using the same fur as a luxury item in the fashion industry.
It turned into a fabric that envisions wealth, it had a heavy price tag but was
also very desirable, and because of this the fur industry started to grow until
it had its own major empire to command.
Animal rights and anti-fur
activists remain unbending, which is a cruel and unethical practice that
violently slaughters millions of animals per year, and such an act should be
banned and considered illegal to commit such a treasury. I have a friend who
works for PETA (People for the ethical treatment of animals), I asked her
opinion on this issue and she told me she understands why some people may choose
to wear fur for its warmth and protection if you live in cold climates, but in
this day and age, it is not necessary to invest in something that requires an
innocent life to be killed, there are so many faux furs out there that offer
the same degree of warmth as a real fur coat. I dove into the vast web and
found a lot of information pertaining around the topic of “fur” and “fashion.”
Electrocution
It doesn’t make you feel all
warm and fuzzy inside when you discover that it is a normal practice for slaughter
houses to use electrocution as a method of massacring animals, this painful and
agonizing process became popular due to its limit of damage to the fur.
Fur Factory Farms
85 per cent of the fur industries
skins come from fur factory farms, disgusting and filthy places where thousands
of animals are usually kept in tiny, wired cages for the duration of their
entire lives. To cut costs, animals are shunned into unbearably tight and rigid
quarters.
It’s raining cats and dogs
China is widely known as a thriving
cat and dog industry, these animals that are seen as everyday pets to us, are
seen as just fur to others. These poor creatures are bludgeoned, beaten, hung
and even skinned alive for their fur. Individuals may not be aware that it is a
common practice to mislabel fur and mislead consumers into believing that what
they are buying is not what they are in fact receiving.
Harming the environment
After the animal has been killed, the
skin is treated with toxic chemicals meant to keep the fur from rotting in the
buyer’s wardrobe. This hazardous process is such an issue that the fur industry
is now ranked as one of the world’s worst industries for toxic-metal pollution.
However, when there is an issue like this
there is always another side to the problem. Some people have taken to saying
that using fur is a better option then investing in “Faux Fur,” people argue that animals are an
important part of a lot of societies' lives, they are linked to essential
products such as medication, food, and clothing, you can even find animal
products in some of your beauty products. Animals are used for medical testing
to find cures for life threatening illnesses, they are also used for testing
for the beauty products you wear every day. A large percentage of the
population still eats meat, so exactly how is this different from people
investing in furs and leather? I found some reasons why people may decide to
choose fur over faux.
Sustainable
Synthetic furs are not bio-degradable,
they are made from petroleum by-products, which is not renewable. But animals
are renewable and sustainable.
Long-lasting
Faux furs may spend decades sitting in
a land fill, but will not be sitting in your closet for anywhere near that
amount of time. Real furs on the other hand are known to last decades, and have
been passed down through generations, that just shows how long a real fur coat
can survive before it finds its way to the trash.
Environmentally friendly
Real
fur does require chemicals for processing, but so does synthetic furs. At least
with real furs you can be sure that it is a staple in your closet for decades,
it is a better option in the long run where the environment is concerned.
Source of warmth
Fur
has been a source of protection from the elements for hundreds of years, people
have turned to it because of its ability to protect against the frigid cold, it
is even known to be waterproof. People argued that nowadays, there are
alternatives that do not involve slaughtering animals, but can synthetic fur
truly keep you as warm and dry as real fur?
Take a moment and go back to the beginning of this article, how does the word
“fur” make you feel now?
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