People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is advocating for the pitching area in baseball, known as the “bullpen,” to henceforth be known instead as the “arm barn.”
The bullpen is the area where the pitchers warm up before heading out to play in the game.
PETA says the term “refers to the holding area where terrified bulls are kept before slaughter,” and the organization has put forward “arm barn” as a suggested replacement.
PETA also takes issue with other commonplace expressions which it claims “perpetuate speciesism.”
“People are striving to eradicate racist, sexist, homophobic, and ableist phrases (or team names) from our common language. But unfortunately, many of us also grew up hearing phrases that condone violence toward animals and perpetuate speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. Sayings such as ‘kill two birds with one stone,’ ‘beat a dead horse,’ ‘bring home the bacon,’ and ‘bullpen’ all normalize violent acts against some of the most defenseless members of our society,” according to PETA.
Unsurprisingly, many people on Twitter thought the suggestion to switch to the term “arm barn” was quite comical.
Blaze Media social media editor Jessica O’Donnell wrote that “peta is easily the best comedy account on twitter.”
“This really feels like something that would be in @TheOnion,” someone opined.
“I’m not convinced that PETA isn’t just a bunch of trolls and possibly the greatest comedic geniuses of our time,” another tweet said.
“‘Arm Barn’ is a hilarious and therefore objectively superior name,” another person posted.
“One of the few remaining bipartisan trends in America is people from all walks of life thinking @PETA is a joke,” Frank Luntz tweeted.