African Elephants (Prompt #3)

You would think after getting a mockingbird tattoo last week that I would want to talk about mockingbirds. I got the tattoo because To Kill a Mockingbird is my favorite book. If I could write at least one book as eloquently and as poignant as Harper Lee did, my life would be complete. I did do a little bit of research about mockingbirds because I thought if it's going to be on my body permanently I should know more than I do about them. They sing...a lot. That's their personality. They also harass other birds who come into their territory.

I am a mockingbird.

A few weeks ago I did something that I vowed years ago that I would never do, I went to a zoo. I am a vegetarian, at least 95% of the time--working up to 100%. Mostly, I am vegetarian for health reasons, meat makes me sick. However, I do believe in animal rights and I believe zoos are damaging to animals and takes away from their inherent natural right of freedom. When we went to Hogle Zoo and came to the African Elephant and the newest baby African Elephant I was face to face with my hypocrisy. I have never seen an animal look so depressed. They were thin and sad. I turned to my mom almost in tears and stated my feelings and she agreed.

I will never go to a zoo again.

I did my research on African elephants.

African elephants are the largest land animals, even bigger than their relatives, Asian elephants. Their ears, although used as a cooling device, are shaped like the continent of Africa. The trunk is used for many things such as: smelling, breathing, drinking, communicating, eating and grabbing things. There are approximately 100,000 muscles in the trunk alone.

Like me, African elephants are vegetarians and as big as a house;) They also, don't sleep a lot--they are looking for food, while I am just sick from the food that I ate. African elephants are not easily domesticated, so why are they in a zoo again? In the wild they are able to live up to 70 years old.

I have always been fascinated with elephants. Perhaps, because they are so tall and I am so little (I'm 5'1", don't judge:) Perhaps, it's because of the saying, "An elephant never forgets." I always wanted to be an elephant with a great memory, forgetting nothing, you win a lot of arguments that way. You also lose a lot of boyfriends. Or maybe it is because as a child I remember feeling so sad for the elephants who were killed for their tusks that are made of ivory. I remember being truly devastated when I learned about this. Men killing, stealing from another animal the beauty that he/she possessed because it could be sold.

As a woman, I feel that I have been objectified for the beauty that appears on the outside. This objectification has felt, at times, that something within me has died. The African elephant is on the threatened list, which means that it is an endangered species. Women are objectified daily. We have to fight to keep our spirits from becoming extinct. I was drawn to the African elephant for a reason.

I am an African elephant.