Comments on: Comments on 13059

Post number 13059

Mack Twain — Tue, 11 Dec 2001 20:28:16 -0800

As Seoul Prepares for Soccer World Cup, a Debate Is Unleashed Over Dog Meat. Cultures collide as FIFA warns and Brigitte Bardot threatens to organize boycotts of Korea over their Canine Cuisine. Koreans are offended. (more)...

By: Mack Twain

Mack Twain — Tue, 11 Dec 2001 20:33:20 -0800

"Sometimes we become a little obsessed with the feelings of Westerners who try to lecture us on values, and regard others as barbarians," said Kim Dong Soo, a 52-year-old diner, who sat on the restaurant's shiny pine floors and ate, together with two friends, from a hot pot steaming with dog meat stew. "But who are they to lecture us? We have 5,000 years of history, and dog eating is part of our culture." 'Tail'gate parties may never be the same.

By: MAYORBOB

MAYORBOB — Tue, 11 Dec 2001 20:33:24 -0800

I think it only fair that Korea respond by banning the screening of any Jerry Lewis movie during the World Cup.

By: malphigian

malphigian — Tue, 11 Dec 2001 20:36:11 -0800

Koreans should be offended. The only difference between eating dogs and pigs is dogs are cuter and we tend to have them in our house. And I say that as a vegetarian.

By: UrbanFigaro

UrbanFigaro — Tue, 11 Dec 2001 20:45:07 -0800

I'm a vegetarian, too, and I've always thought it the height of hypocrisy for people who eat cows and pigs to decry the moral bankrupcy of eating horses and dogs. It's utter bullshit. These ethnocentric rubes also probably eat veal and suckling (baby) pig. They have no legs to stand on. Feh.

By: Hildago

Hildago — Tue, 11 Dec 2001 20:45:42 -0800

Obviously, they should not be torturing dogs. This is something they have already apparently agreed not to do, but which is still being practiced, probably due to cultural momentum. But the issue of eating dog meat is not one of animal rights, and imposing our western sensibilities on another culture simply because we react with revulsion to what is not all that unusual a practice anyway (after all , what, really is the difference between dog meat and cow meat?) is a bad idea. There's also the issue of necessity, as many groups of people in poor countries have no choice but to eat any meat that is available.

By: y2karl

y2karl — Tue, 11 Dec 2001 21:02:59 -0800

You know stavrosthewonderchicken is going to have something to say about this, don't you? Hint: Thursday, November 15, 2001

By: y2karl

y2karl — Tue, 11 Dec 2001 21:05:56 -0800

Another episode of Raiders Of The Lost Blog was my first reaction.

By: shoepal

shoepal — Tue, 11 Dec 2001 21:19:42 -0800

Open Letter from Brigitte and a korean response.

By: rushmc

rushmc — Tue, 11 Dec 2001 21:58:04 -0800

I am offended, too, on their behalf.

By: mkn

mkn — Tue, 11 Dec 2001 22:13:55 -0800

From the open letter: "The fate of baby seals in Canada, the martyred bears of Bulgaria, the agony of donkeys in Tunisia : all animal suffering affects me deeply." Martyred bears? That gives me an odd mental picture. It offends me too. Double standards. If India were to ask the West to not eat beef because they consider it sacred... they'd be laughed at.

By: liam

liam — Tue, 11 Dec 2001 22:47:25 -0800

stavrosthewonderchicken also has an interesting piece about the treatment of immigrant workers in South Korea over at World New York. Somehow I doubt Brigitte Bardot will organize boycotts of the country for that reason, given her attitude towards immigrants in her homeland.

By: liam

liam — Tue, 11 Dec 2001 23:00:08 -0800

For posterity's sake, my World New York link should be to here. Apologies.

By: MiguelCardoso

MiguelCardoso — Wed, 12 Dec 2001 00:11:34 -0800

Surely the point is that dogs like people very much. The better analogy would be with horses, which the West eat a lot of.

By: y2karl

y2karl — Wed, 12 Dec 2001 00:51:15 -0800

I was going to cite Good To Eat aka The Sacred Cow and The Abomniable Pig by (reviewed here along with some of his other works) by anthropologist Marvin Harris ( interview on this topic here), founder of the anthropological school of Cultural Materialism, but was saddened to find his obituary when I went to Google. I had no idea... Here is another comprehensive cultural materialism page. His America Now or Why Things Don't Work - The Anthropology of Every Day Life, although 20 years old is one of the better analyses of present day American society still. Do read the interview, it has a lot to bear with what's being discussed here.

By: stavrosthewonderchicken

stavrosthewonderchicken — Wed, 12 Dec 2001 01:01:27 -0800

Great stuff, y2karl. Thanks for the links. I've not got much to say about this that I haven't said already, elsewhere and here (got a bit heated as I recall on the Stile-kitten-eating-video thread a few months ago, which is salient background to this thread perhaps), but I am very interested in what MeFites have to say on the subject...

By: stavrosthewonderchicken

stavrosthewonderchicken — Wed, 12 Dec 2001 01:07:27 -0800

OK, that's not strictly true - I do have more to say. One of the aspects of this that has not been touched on is the widespread belief that boshintang (dog soup) is one of the numerous foods that are 'stamina increasing', which is Konglish code for erection-inducing. If the primary reason that most men eat the stuff is because of this (presumably erroneous) belief, is it still as justifiable? The other aspect (as I mention in the blog entry that y2karl referenced earlier) that most people have a problem with is not so much the fact that the doggies are being eaten, but that it's widely held that beating the dogs to death will enhance the curative and aphrodisiac properties of the meat. This is clearly not acceptable to most people, and a part of the story that most media outlets shy away from.

By: y2karl

y2karl — Wed, 12 Dec 2001 01:14:56 -0800

Abomniable D'oh! I are an abominable speller sometimes--too smug to use spell check again...that'll teach me.

By: johnnyace

johnnyace — Wed, 12 Dec 2001 05:08:29 -0800

Well, I used to hate cats, until I found out how good they taste.

By: Frasermoo

Frasermoo — Wed, 12 Dec 2001 05:24:01 -0800

i go with the eating but not the beating.

By: aureliano buendia

aureliano buendia — Wed, 12 Dec 2001 06:48:05 -0800

remember that she (brigitte bardot) is very very very close from the french fascists (fn) - so ethnocentrism is not a surprise *she* should be eaten (wouldn't taste good tho)

By: Frasermoo

Frasermoo — Wed, 12 Dec 2001 07:20:35 -0800

50 years ago she would have tasted sweet as sugar.

By: Frasermoo

Frasermoo — Wed, 12 Dec 2001 07:23:55 -0800

40 years ago she would have tasted sweet as sugar.

By: NortonDC

NortonDC — Wed, 12 Dec 2001 10:09:18 -0800

Kitten - It's What's for Dinner (self link?)

By: Mack Twain

Mack Twain — Wed, 12 Dec 2001 14:46:54 -0800

"the martyred bears of Bulgaria, the agony of donkeys in Tunisia" That 'odd mental picture' led to the following:Bulgaria's dancing bears retire ...check the numbers:A $250,000 bear park, $4,500 per bear, $200 per month for food (each bear) where the average monthly salary is $100. African drought hits donkeys...many owners believe giving water to a donkey while working is wrong. Y2, thanx for the links to Marvin Harris and Cultural Materialism; I had forgotten reading his stuff some years ago.

By: stavrosthewonderchicken

stavrosthewonderchicken — Sun, 16 Dec 2001 06:46:09 -0800

Just for the sake of completeness, here : The Anti Dog Meat Movement headquarters. "Japanese eat whale meat and Korean eat dog meat. Two countries are co-hosts of 2002 FIFA World Cup. They said that this worldcup will become a 'green Worldcup'. Is this the truth? What is our next step?" My suggestion for a next step would be unpleasant, so I'll avoid answering the question. If only they cared as much about humans. Warning : some nasty imagery ahead, if you follow that link.

By: UrbanFigaro

UrbanFigaro — Sun, 16 Dec 2001 22:51:56 -0800

See, whale meat and shark fin and abalone (and some types of) caviar are different issues to me. These are endangered species because they have not been responsibly harvested. It's much more reasonable to protest this, even if you are a meat-eater.

By: aureliano buendia

aureliano buendia — Thu, 20 Dec 2001 05:09:45 -0800

urbanFigaro, in Iran, they harvest VERY responsibly abalone - also they now complain that ex-ussr countries are emptying the caspian sea by fishing too much; as in iran there are only 700 people allowed to fish and treat abalone