[Mexico City, December 9. Image via Getty]

A little girl looks at a member of animal rights organization AnimaNaturalis is seen inside a cage painted as a tiger during a protest against the consumption of animal-based products on December 9, 2009 in Mexico City. AFP PHOTO/Luis Acosta (Photo credit should read LUIS ACOSTA/AFP/Getty Images)

[Seoul, December 9. Image via Getty]

A South Korean animal-rights activist in a costume protests against the sale of fur coats outside a department store in Seoul on December 9, 2009. The placard around her neck reads 'Animal life is unique and precious.' AFP PHOTO/JUNG YEON-JE (Photo credit should read JUNG YEON-JE/AFP/Getty Images)

[Madrid, December 6. Image via Getty]

An activist of the 'IgualdadAnimal' (Animals' Equality) organization holds a dead piglet during a demonstration for the abolition of animal slavery at the Puerta del Sol Square in Madrid on December 6, 2009. AFP PHOTO JAVIER SORIANO (Photo credit should read JAVIER SORIANO/AFP/Getty Images)

[Seoul, December 6. Image via Getty]

SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA - DECEMBER 06: People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) protest against fur at a MyungDong shopping district on December 6, 2009 in Seoul, South Korea. The demonstration was organized by the PETA to protest against the use of fur in clothing. (Photo by Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images)

[Jerusalem, September 24. Image via Getty]

An Israeli animal rights activist attends a protest against the abuse and slaughter of chickens for the Jewish traditional costume of Kaparot on September 24, 2009. During the Kaparot ritual one swings a chicken over his head in a symbolic act to transfer the sins of the past year to the chicken, and is performed before the Day of Atonement, or Yom Kippur, the most important day in the Jewish calendar, which this year falls on September 28. AFP PHOTO/GALI TIBBON (Photo credit should read GALI TIBBON/AFP/Getty Images)

[Kuala Lumpur, September 2. Image via Getty]

An activist from the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) promotes vegetarianism while clad in full lenght gown made of lettuce leaves in front of a shopping mall in Kuala Lumpur on September 2, 2009. AFP PHOTO / Saeed Khan (Photo credit should read SAEED KHAN/AFP/Getty Images)

[Istanbul, August 23. Image via Getty]

An activist from the Independet Animals Rights Supporters (IARS) performs in a cage during a demonstration in Istanbul on August 23, 2009. An animal rights group gathered in Taksim square, in Istanbul, to protest against animals experimentation in Turkey. AFP PHOTO/MUSTAFA OZER (Photo credit should read MUSTAFA OZER/AFP/Getty Images)

[Sydney, August 20. Image via Getty]

<blockquote<Five painted members of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) Australia form a Canadian flag and hold a banner as they protest outside the Consulate General of Canada offices in Sydney on August 20, 2009. The protest was PETA's attempt to focus the world's attention on the annual killing of baby seals in Canada during the run-up to the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver. AFP PHOTO / Greg WOOD (Photo credit should read GREG WOOD/AFP/Getty Images)

[Seoul, July 14. Image via Getty]

SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA - JULY 14: Members of Coexistence for Animal Rights participate in a protest against eating dog meat on July 14, 2009 in Seoul, South Korea. Dog meat is a traditional dish in Korea dating back to the Samkuk period (period of the three kingdoms BC 57 - AD 668). (Photo by Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images)

[Kiev, June 12. Image via Getty]

A girl wearing a dog mask attends a rally of Ukrainian Zoo Rights activists in front of the Kiev mayor's office on June 12, 2009. Protesters demanded a stop to the continued killing of stray dogs in the city, organized in the context of preparation for EURO 2012, as well as accusing city authorities of plundering of money for a program of sterilization of homeless dogs. AFP PHOTO/ SERGEI SUPINSKY (Photo credit should read SERGEI SUPINSKY/AFP/Getty Images)

Masson says omnivores make fun of vegans "because of a bad conscience. I think to some extent people think: 'You know, they're probably right, but, boy, would it be inconvenient for me.'" And according to Masson, omnivores should have a bad conscience. Of milk, he says:

I feel that it's not ours to take. The milk is there for a calf, not for a human. We're the only species that drinks the milk of another species.

Think about it: You couldn't get within 100 yards of a wild cow to take milk. The bull would gore you to death. The cow herself would run away. They don't want to be milked. It's really a false conceit to say, "Well, they don't really mind." Of course they mind. It's just that we breed them to be docile, and we put them in stalls, and we make them artificially pregnant. It's totally unnatural.

When Salon's Katharine Mieszkowski asks "wouldn't you do more to reduce animal suffering by advocating ending the worst factory farms than arguing that we should all go vegan," Masson replies: "Reform has never been my strong point. I really like to think along the edges — a more radical approach." He goes on to critique the idea — espoused by Michael Pollan and others — that farm animals can have good lives.

Near the end of the interview, Masson says things are changing for the better. Part of his evidence: "I just heard a fantastic statistic that at Stanford University, a quarter of the undergraduate student body is vegetarian." I was a vegetarian undergraduate at Stanford, and while the percentage of vegetarians may have changed dramatically in the four years since I graduated, I remember the figure being about 11%. And we did get made fun of. Partly, I'm sure, because of meat-eaters' "bad conscience," but partly because we were perceived as self-righteous. And sometimes we were.

Masson says "you could never pass a law that you can't eat cheese. Never, ever. That will never happen. [...] It feels like, I think falsely so, but it feels like it's my God-given privilege to eat whatever I goddamn please." This makes cheese-eaters sound like entitled assholes, but really food is a central part of almost all human cultures (except, say, breatharians), and to ask people to give up something their mothers, their grandmothers, and their great-grandmothers not only ate but also, as Masson acknowledges, developed rituals around, is actually a very big deal. We may be the only animals who drink the milk of another animal, but we're also the only animals who refrain from eating certain things for moral reasons, and to say that being vegan or vegetarian is more "natural" than being omnivorous is a total crock.

When I was at Stanford, a lot of vegans and vegetarians used our commitment to the cause to disparage American food culture, deriding bread and milk as disgusting. I remember one girl turning up her nose at some cheese, labeling it "bacteria food" — we had to point out that the tempeh she was eating was also fermented. The way Americans eat has lots of problems, to be sure, but telling people that the historical basics of their diet are gross and unnatural isn't the best way to get people to change. Maybe if Masson were more interested in reform, he'd recognize that, as much as animal life deserves respect, so does human culture. It's reasonable to ask people to eat less meat and dairy — it's even reasonable to ask them to go completely vegan. But we have to understand that this represents an enormous shift for people, a break not only with habit but with history. Sometimes it's good to break with history, but it's always hard, and animal rights advocates need to recognize that.

Don't have a cow! [Salon]

Earlier: The Ethics Of Eating: Veganism, Food & Fashion

•  A recent study has found that alcohol has no effect on one's ability to judge age, which is bad news for anyone who wants to claim being drunk as an excuse for sleeping with a minor. Also: alcohol had a "significant impact" on making older faces with a lot of makeup appear more attractive to participants. • A North Carolina State University design team is working on making new, less revealing, and hopefully more comfortable, hospital gowns. • New research suggests that there may be a link between perfectionism and binge eating. • Ever wondered what a pro-abortion diet would look like? World of Wonder has the answer. • Today's New York Times profiles Allannah Thomas, who works with a nonprofit group to help low-income women achieve their full potential through math classes. • Meet Jennifer Fearing, the "rising star" of California's animal rights movement. Despite her fear of birds, Fearing has worked to improve the lives of farm raised chickens across the state. •  Police in Tracy, CA have received dozens of calls from people who simply cannot believe that Melissa Huckaby, as a woman, was capable of raping and murdering someone else's daughter. • Click here to watch a strange and disjointed time-lapse video that explains how babies are really made. • Is Katie Price (more commonly known as Jordan) a feminist icon? We're going with no, but the Times makes an interesting case for the famous glamor model. • More than 20 polo horses died this Sunday in Wellington, Florida. 15 of the horses died instantly, while the rest lingered for almost an hour. Experts are still searching for the cause of death. •

The Kennel Club has been under pressure to change its breed standards since a recent BBC documentary accused breeders of endangering dogs’ health in order to achieve prize-winning features, which, for bulldogs includes stubby legs, big shoulders, narrow hips, and upturned muzzles. Years of selective breeding have made it virtually impossible for an English Bulldog to give birth naturally, and their upturned muzzles have been blamed for respiratory problems. The new standards will apply to a total of 78 breeds, including the shar pei and the German shepherd. [CNN]

The cats were all living in a single house in Moriches, New York, that is currently facing foreclosure. When the bikers heard about the soon-to-be homeless cats, they rushed to the scene. Today they begin the task of rescuing and rehabilitating the 180 felines, a job that will take about a week. In their mission statement, they profess their dedication to protecting animal rights: "We will stop at nothing within the bounds of the law to protect animals at risk. We will intercede without hesitation when we are informed of a situation that needs to be addressed, and we will address it. If we need to convince people to do the right thing ... we can be very convincing, we'll even buy animals if that's what it takes to get them away from abusers." [The Sun & Rescue Ink]

• Opponents of the Miss University London beauty pageant (which is not connected with the school) are hoping to get the pageant which they see as misogynistic and like a "cattle call" cancelled before the contest's grand finale in February. • A new study claims that women who must work to support themselves or their family have a higher hip-to-waist ratio which might be linked to androgens (which includes testosterone) which is linked to stamina and assertiveness. • A 1-week old English infant who was separated from her conjoined twin died on Tuesday after the surgery. Her twin sister is in stable condition. • Police in Uganda claim that violent gangs are robbing men by luring them with women who have chloroform on their chests and then stripping them once they are unconscious. • The UK Resource Centre for Women in Science, Engineering and Technology are calling for the next Doctor Who to be a woman. • An English cat named Mischief who is believed to be the world's oldest living cat celebrated his 125th birthday (or 27th in human years).• An English teenager's 16th birthday party was ruined when it was crashed by 400 wild party-crashers who found out about the party via Facebook. • A new study suggests that college women are unaware of some sexual assault risks related to drugging, such as leaving your drink unattended. • The ex-boyfriend of a 20-year-old woman in Florida (who can't remember his last name) stole a wig off of the woman's head while riding a bicycle.• New research shows that 1 in 5 women with breast cancer who are 65 or older delay or do not finish their treatment following breast cancer surgery. • Condom sales are up because having sex is the cheapest form of entertainment.• A recent study claims that women who exercise during pregnancy are more likely to have pre-eclampsia. • The first Australian evaluation of the HPV vaccine against hypersensitivity development reveals that a hypersensitivity reaction is rare in young women given the vaccine. • Researchers say that women who have more than two alcoholic drinks a day have a higher risk of developing atrial fibrillation, which can increase the risk of a stroke. • The Pentagon reports that during the 2008 fiscal year, enlisted soldiers and Marines divorced their spouses at the highest rate in the past 16 years. •