In a campaign to highlight the tortuous treatment inflicted upon animals in cosmetic lab testing, Lush, a ‘cruelty-free’ make up chain, along with the Humane Society International put on display a re-enactment of cosmetic testings on a woman, instead of an animal.
A social sculpture student volunteered to be tortured in an attempt to draw attention to the pain and cruelty inflicted on animals during laboratory tests on cosmetics.
The display itself is art. Put simply, it fits under the Encyclopædia Britannica definition of art as “the use of skill and imagination in the creation of aesthetic objects, environments, or experiences that can be shared with others.” Albeit, this art piece was a shocking, fear-inducing, and painful display of reality.
The horrific experimentation on animals, on the other hand, should be deemed crime. The 8th amendment of the Constitution protects against “cruel and unusual” punishment, which is what cosmetic testing is. The problem is that this protection is only meant for humans and does not apply to animals, despite their ability to feel pain. Animals do not have rights.
Some proponents of retributive and harsh punishment have suggested that instead of testing on animals, or in addition to, cosmetic testing should be done on inmates. Inmates, who are marginalized members of society, have more rights than animals.
I am not knowledgeable enough about the act of conducting makeup testing without the use of animals, so I am just left with questions about what Lush uses instead. If what is happening is indeed as what was portrayed in this performance art piece, I do find animal testing to be a horrendous practice. Still, I don’t think using prisoners, as what was proposed as a solution by the supplemental article, would be better.
I don’t understand why some of the contraptions shown in the video are used on animals, in particular the brain wave-measuring instrument, so I think that the cruelty level of the tests should be brought down to zero.
I am also slightly biased as someone who does not use makeup, but why not just stop the production of makeup in general? I know this would only be a temporary solution though, as I am aware that many products rely on animal testing.
I completely agree. Animal testing is still a problem that occurs today despite more and more companies moving to cruelty free and animal free cosmetic testing. This campaign from Lush sheds light on what animals face when doing cosmetic testing, and is advocating for animals when they themselves cannot. Since we can’t understand animals or their pain, it’s hard for people to realize the damage that is done on animals during cosmetic testing.