Jane Chastain : Politically Direct

After last week’s column on why I am going back to wearing fur again, I received a ton of e-mail. Some could best be described as toxic waste: I was scolded, lectured, preached to and called names.

I also heard from many others who are tired of being intimidated by the radical animal-rights movement. They, too, have decided to wear fur again and want to know where to go to enlist in the war against these extremists. Read the rest of this entry »

Thanksgiving was particularly cold. As I prepared to go to a dinner party, I reached back into an area of my closet for rarely used items and pulled out a silk zipper bag. There was dust on the top, and I realized that it had not been disturbed since I placed it there the day we moved into our new house eight years ago. I was afraid to look inside.

Much to my delight, the red fox jacket was every bit as beautiful as it was the day it was purchased 20 years earlier.

I hadn’t worn fur for a good 10 years. I had allowed myself to be intimidated by a few radical animal-rights extremists. I had kidded myself into thinking that if I just bided my time, these people would tire of their tirades and the whole anti-fur movement would just die out.

This never works. All it does is empower them. Read the rest of this entry »