ANIMAL PEOPLE is the leading independent newspaper providing original investigative coverage of animal protection worldwide. Founded in 1992, ANIMAL PEOPLE has no alignment or affiliation with any other entity.

 

This site built and maintained by: GREANVILLE ASSOCIATESand CRESCENT COMMUNICATIONS •Rev. 12.1.05 Copyright ANIMAL PEOPLE, INC. 1992--2006

 

 

 

 

 
   

 
powered by FreeFind

ESSENTIAL DESTINATIONS

MONTH: December 2006

A keyword perspective on
why fur-wearers do it

 

Anti-fur campaigners typically believe that fur-wearers wear fur chiefly because they associate it with glamour and sex appeal. This may be incorrect.

A keyword search of the 2006 staff-written content of 1,216 newspapers archived at NewsLibrary.com turned up 3,913 articles associating "fur" with "coat," and 651 associating "fur" with "trim." Among these articles, 62% linked fur with "independence," "liberty," or "freedom." The usual context appeared to be furriers describing buyers as either women of independent minds and income, or younger people defying pressure from animal rights activists, portrayed as a vocal minority--but reporters found the remarks worth quoting.

43% of the articles linked fur with "security," 41% with "warmth," 28% with "safety," 28% with "success," 27% with "independence," 18% with "cruelty," 15% with "status," 13% with "luxury," 9% with "sexy," and only 5% with "glamour."

The 18% association of fur with cruelty tested at more than twice the strength of "horse" with "rider" (8.5%). Thus there may be no lack of recognition that fur production is cruel--as acknowledged by Alison Hardie of The Scotsman in a recent commentary, in which she admitted that she wears fur trim even though she is concerned about animal suffering. (See pages 12-13.)

However, associations of fur with independence, liberty, and freedom appear to be three times stronger than the association with cruelty, and the associations with security, warmth, safety, and success are also significantly stronger, especially when combined with the slightly weaker scores for "status" and "luxury." --Merritt Clifton