[Discussion] Is anyone else afraid of others finding out you're vegan?
[Discussion] Is anyone else afraid of others finding out you're vegan?
Now days I try to avoid saying I'm vegan as much as possible because my mental health is fair and I feel lonely. Dealing with all the arguing can be too much sometimes. I hope in the future I would have more confidence for activism and informing others.
There was also a statistic that said vegans are the second most hated group after drug addicts. Neither social stigma is justified. People need to be more compassionate to other beings not matter how rough in a state they're.
But I would never be a pick me vegan and attack my morals to please others. I don't care if it makes meat eaters uncomfortable. Deal with it and do better!
I feel like "afraid" would be the wrong word, but I definitely avoid starting a talk about it. It's either immediately a heated discussion that I - obviously - initiated, just before talking bad about the other person's mother, or it's people givinge the "I don't eat that much meat anyways" talk. I'm so tired of both.
Also I feel like when people find out, many lose the ability to see beyond the label. Like I suddenly loose every bit of personality I ever had. That's why I especially avoid it in a professional environment. My boss can trust a professional, experienced worker, but can they trust a vegan? Don't wanna find out.
My boss can trust a professional, experienced worker, but can they trust a vegan? Don’t wanna find out.
That is the quote of the century. As soon as people find out your affiliation to veganism everything you say or do is now wrong in their eyes.
I definitely only mention it when relevant (making meal plans) because people's brains just shut down as soon as they hear vegan. Constantly the most idiotic arguments that they'd never use in other contexts.
I need to eat meat because of my protein-deficient Indigenous lion-ancestors and did you know there's no ethical consumption under capitalism so might as well maximize my unethical behaviors, also did you know only 100 companies produce 71% of emissions and they'd totally keep up that production even if consumption went down on a global scale?? Also I only ever eat meat from my uncle's ethical farm, who somehow also provides the meat for every fast food restaurant I go to, I'm basically vegetarian I only eat meat like twice a day!
I've started telling people "I'd rather not have a conversation about it because I've had this conversation hundreds of times, it's never productive and I usually end up rather upset". If they can't respect that, I figure they're not worth my time anyways.
Never afraid but I generally only mention I'm vegan if I think another person might be interested or if we're discussing meal logistics. I found that more freely mentioning I'm vegan led to defensiveness and uninteresting conversations. With veganism and in general I try to focus on commonalities when I interact with people. For example, if political orientation is shared, I'll talk about politics. If I can tell it is not, I'll try to avoid political topics.
When I turned vegan, I was very disillusioned with society and angry for a while. I don't know if that applies. My unasked for advice would be to take good care of yourself - that's the most important thing - and the greater confidence for activism will naturally come <3
Wouldn't it be easier for others to accommodate your diet if you let them know you're vegan?
Yes, I do appreciate it when people are accommodating but one time when I requested a vegan option in a class I was taking I was sent a sassy email in the tone"WE WILL NOT ACCOMMODATE VEGANS" but it was plain to see the discrimination, it would've be fine if I was jewish or muslim or allergic.
Hey, for what it's worth, as someone who keeps kosher (and thus follows a lot of vegan groups as it simplifies a lot of things), if I'm outside of the New York tri-state area, no one gives a shit to try and accommodate that. Even in that area, there's a LOT of functions where I just gotta bring my own food. Like people can't imagine a world where they don't put butter in every dang thing.
Edit: At least locally, vegan products and offerings at restaurants have gotten a lot more prolific and, well, good, in the past decade or so. Even for dinner tonight, the boyfriend got a dairy dessert, so I made jackfruit BBQ sliders. And I got the jackfruit at a regular grocery store, next to plenty of other chicken, beef, and even fish replacements. So things are getting better.
If they respond so aggressively to a request to accommodate your diet, that group is probably not very friendly in general. Or maybe it's the organiser who isn't friendly...
I love mentioning it at the right moment, without making it a thing. I didn't get any real hate for it in a long time, that changed a lot in the past decade. If people want to talk about it, bring it on! I'm confident, educated and polite about it, but I speak up when they get too defending or parrot the bullshit bingo.
omg this vegan bullshit bingo is precious, it’s wild that vegan hate is so normalized and yet nearly all of the copes fit in a 5x5 grid
Being visible is a form of activism.