STORY UPDATED: check for updates below.
Are vegans now claiming that the American Thanksgiving holiday practice "stuffing the turkey" is sexual assault?? No, that's not true: Articles making the claim offer no quotes, sourcing or details to confirm that anyone associated with the vegan movement has made the claim that stuffing a turkey with bread before cooking it was a sexual assault. In fact, it began as a joke. While PETA produced controversial video ads equating the breeding of farm animals to human sexual assault, we could find nothing relating to grandmother's recipe.
The story originated from an article (archived here) where it was published by a satire site wokenews.com on Christmas Day, 2018 under the title "Vegans now claiming that 'stuffing the turkey' to be sexual assault". It opened:
Just when you thought Vegans couldn't be more 'ate up' with their ideologies they come out with another ridiculous claim.
Apparently nothing is "off the table" anymore when it comes to sexual assault and the #metoo movement.
If 2018 (or 2019 for that matter) has proven anything, it has shown how being offended and posing as a victim is the new trend and an absolute flex on how society responds to their rhetoric.
So think twice before you 'baste the turkey' infront of any extended family with a Liberal Arts degree for Christmas dinner tonight because you just might find yourself with a sexual assault charge.
This is what social media users saw:
The story includes a fake tweet purportedly from the @vegan account. It supposedly read:
For the record, YES it is absolutely sexual assault when you rapists 'stuff' a turkey! Has #metoo been for nothing?!
Look closely and you will see the bad photoshop job on this image:
There is no danger that a vegan will call cops on your mom or grandmom because of her kitchen procedures. There is no #MeatToo movement.
An inspiration for the hoax stories may have come from a real controversy just before Thanksgiving 2016 when PETA -- People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals -- released video ads comparing the breeding of animals for meat products with sexual assaults on women. Time magazine reported on this in a story titled "PETA Actually Compared Rape Victims to Meat Products":
The ad, which debuted on Wednesday on the animal rights group's Twitter account, starts with women sharing stories of sexual assault and how the experiences made them feel devalued. "I feel everything. And I feel worthless," women in the ad say. But, then, one woman featured in the ad holds up a picture of a cow and says, "Because I am you -- only different."
The ad ends with this message: "Every year, billions of animals are born into the meat, egg, and dairy industry. Almost all of them are a result of forcible artificial insemination. Almost all of them are a result of rape. Don't participate. Go vegan," the ad says.
This is one of the PETA ads:
No mother should have to go through any of this. pic.twitter.com/DjbWQcFTX3
-- PETA (@peta) November 2, 2016
We wrote about wokennews.com before, here are our most recent articles that mention the site:
Updates:
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2019-08-26T15:34:11Z 2019-08-26T15:34:11Z Update 11:35aET Aug 26, 2019 - Making it clear this story began as satire.