IDENTITY SHIFTING: PEOPLE FOR THE ETHICAL TREATMENT OF ANIMALS AND
THE EROSION OF THE ANIMAL/HUMAN DIVIDE
by
WENDY ATKINS-SAYRE
(Under the Direction of John M. Murphy)
ABSTRACT
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), arguably the most successful animal rights organization, encounters a tremendous obstacle in selling the animal rights message to a broad audience. Faced with the entrenched belief in the nature/culture, animal/human divide, they are forced to chip away at those divisions using a number of different rhetorical tactics. This project argues that PETA pulls from different threads of identity arguments that appeal to a wide range of individuals. In arguing against animal testing, they use dissociation to create a corrupted and an ethical science and invite a reassessment of our understanding of animal identity. In many of their visual campaigns, PETA encourages identity- questioning by blurring the lines between human and animal and emphasizing shared characteristics. Other campaigns use intertextuality to develop a story that highlights shared substance between human and animal by comparing animal and human atrocities. This project concludes that identity rhetoric is a vital part of contemporary social movements and rhetorical studies must account for this change.
INDEX WORDS: Animal rights, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, PETA, Kenneth Burke, Dissociation, Hierarchy, Perspective by Incongruity,
Analogy, Intertextuality, Identity, Identification, Social Movement Rhetoric
IDENTITY SHIFTING: PEOPLE FOR THE ETHICAL TREATMENT OF ANIMALS AND
THE EROSION OF THE ANIMAL/HUMAN DIVIDE
by
WENDY ATKINS-SAYRE
B.A., Texas State University—San Marcos, 1994
M.A., Texas State University—San Marcos, 1996
A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of The University of Georgia in Partial
Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
ATHENS, GEORGIA
2005
© 2005
Wendy Atkins-Sayre
All Rights Reserved
IDENTITY SHIFTING: PEOPLE FOR THE ETHICAL TREATMENT OF ANIMALS AND
THE EROSION OF THE ANIMAL/HUMAN DIVIDE
by
WENDY ATKINS-SAYRE
Major Professor: John M. Murphy
Committee: Bonnie J. Dow Kevin M. DeLuca Celeste M. Condit Kathleen Clark
Electronic Version Approved:
Maureen Grasso Dean of the Graduate School The University of Georgia December 2005
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DEDICATION
For Gillian, the most passionate animal rights activist that I know.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
When I began my search for a college and a major, it is not surprising that I had only vague ideas about what I wanted to do with my life. Seeking out all kinds of advice, I can remember asking my drama teacher what she thought my major should be when I began my academic career. She quickly responded “Speech Communication” because it would lead me to the law degree that I was half-heartedly convinced I wanted. It might not have been the most inspired way to find my calling, but her advice was certainly fortuitous. That fall I entered my freshman year as a Speech Communication major and now I graduate with my doctorate 15 years later.
My passion for rhetoric grew out of my experiences in a wonderful department. There were many people at Southwest Texas State University that helped shape who I am today.
Wayne Kraemer was my debate coach for 4 years and somehow lived to talk about it. That debate experience was life-shaping (in too many ways to enumerate here!) and I thank Wayne for giving me that opportunity and for being a good friend. Dan Cavanaugh was my first college
Speech teacher and his love of his profession (he once said to me, “How many people can honestly say that they love their jobs? I love doing what I do.”) inspired me to begin the MA program at Southwest Texas. Roseann Mandziuk and Tom Burkholder both introduced me to rhetoric—and especially