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A. S. Hamrah
A Better Mousetrap
What was deservedly an obscure fetish—the desire to see small, defenseless animals crushed under women's heels—is underground no more. Whether it will remain long in the collective consciousness is another question, but ever since 79 year-old actor and animal-activist Mickey Rooney appeared at a press conference in southern California late this August to denounce it, the "crush video" has been in the news. Punch line or urban legend in the making, convenient example of all that is depraved in humanity or brand-new scare tactic to illustrate what happens to actresses who don't make it in L.A. (That was you in those red stiletto heels! I recognized the sunflower tattoo on your ankle! You're not my daughter anymore!), videos that feature the fetish so lame psychology doesn't even have a term for it (murocalcareia, anyone?—from the Latin for mouse and stomp?) have now even played before Congress. Rep. Elton Gallegly (R.—Calif.) has worked himself into a legislative lather on behalf of that part of his constituency who are crush video's victims—mice, frogs, and crickets—vowing to make illegal something that is already illegal: the torture and killing of animals not done by huge corporations in the name of science.
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