Fur and its Social Meaning
Animal exploitation always has also a symbolic side. The animal victim always reflects, besides its materialistic and economic use, the claim of power of human beings over animals.
The social function of fur e.g. is to be a visible sign of seizing of animals’ bodies. Fur symbolizes the power to destroy life, the power which is organized and accepted by former and present societies. Those who wear fur display it, and by doing so they show other members of society their position of power (fur is probably rarely worn alone at home, hidden away). This may explain why artificial, fake fur, though being very similiar to animal fur in its material quality, has not yet completely replaced animal pelts. You just can’t exercise power over a synthetic fibre...
After skinning an animal, what remains is a destroyed, mutilated and discarded creature. Worn as a trophy, its fur is a demonstration of dominance over animals, the injustice against the animal individual.
The free animal, who is an end in itself, the animal not subjugated by society provoked the rage of human subjects of society, who are oppressed by their own system, against "animality". This rage, next to other factors, ended in the fanatic subjugation and instrumentalization of all not-human animals. And it created the systematic "animal production" which is a totalitarian, speciesist system: one of breeding, locking up, exploiting, and destroying animal individuals. The fur industry is part of this animal exploiting industry, which makes animals into products and tools, and which prevents animals from living in self-determination.