Veganism, for decades, has been called
extreme, ridiculous, a religion, a cult.
There are YouTube channels, Facebook pages, and subreddits dedicated to criticizing-
or usually bashing- vegans... for really
anything.
There are tons of people who hate vegans and even wish us all death.
But why is this?
You don't see the same for people who eat a paleo diet or keto diet or even the up-and-coming carnivore diet.
And I know people are already
racing the comments to tell me that
"veganism is more than a diet"
Don't worry- I know.
That's a vegans favorite thing to correct people on so we are all well
aware.
But why do vegans get so much more hate than really any other way
of eating or social movement?
Who's to blame for all this?
I think it's us.
Many vegans like to think that people hate us because that makes it easier for them to not feel as guilty about eating animal products.
That might be true for some
but I think a lot of it has to do with the way that vegans can act.
We're known for being hostile and aggressive and shoving our beliefs down people's throats.
When I went vegan at 14 years old,
I was a little bit more pushy than I wish I'd been and I think a lot of vegans can relate to being like that at first.
Some people though, do not outgrow the militant approach and continue with that kind of activism for much longer.
"I've taken the liberation pledge so like I refuse to eat at a table where people are eating animal products."
While that might bring a small number of people into veganism, it pushes so many more away.
When a person acts arrogant and forceful about something they do,
others are much more likely to develop a disliking for that person or what they're doing.
While most vegans don't act like the stereotype of vegans,
as we all know, it's always the radical minority that stands out and makes the rest of the movement look bad.
Let's look at everyone's favorite vegan youtubers,
Freelee the Banana Girl and the beloved Vegan Gains
who are both commonly thought of as militant vegans.
Yeah, they might have a large following but most of their followers are probably already vegan.
I don't think a lot of non vegans like to listen to vegans angrily tear down other non vegans
so I can't imagine that they're actually inspiring that many people to go vegan
or even just reduce the amount of animal products they eat.
They may get a lot of views from non-vegans because they're the most controversial and in-your-face,
which often equals more attention than someone who is...
normal.
But the majority of the non-vegans watching them are not gonna want to go vegan
because of how aggressive and judgemental they are.
On the other hand, channels like Pick Up Limes, Cheap Lazy Vegan, and Earthling Ed
probably attract a lot more non vegans because they all have one thing in common:
they're nice.
They're compassionate not only towards animals
but humans as well and are probably inspiring far more people to eat plants than the more militant channels.
The overwhelming majority of popular vegans on social media aren't aggressive
and I also don't think that in real life most vegans act like Freelee in conversations
they have with meat eaters,
so where does the vegan stereotype come from?
I think nowadays it largely has to do with commenters.
There are an endless amount of comments on social media platforms that perfectly fit the vegan stereotype.
And a lot of people read comments on Instagram posts, Facebook pages, and YouTube videos,
and then get this idea that all or most vegans are like what they're seeing so much of.
Then when people have conversations about vegans,
the negative perception gets spread to people who've never even had an actual interaction with the vegan before.
As that keeps getting spread to more and
more people
it ends up that a lot of people dislike all vegans because of a small percentage of us who post hateful comments
on the internet because it feels good to vent about things that make you mad.
When it comes to ex-vegans and we spend our time whining about how this person or that person were never truly vegan-
as if it's important to comment that in first place-
we make ourselves look like the most over-the-top drama queens
who need a nitpick every dumb little
thing that we can find a way to disagree with.
If we were more considerate and
mindful with the things we write online,
people might not think we're so detestable.
One statement vegans like to use to explain why we get hate is,
"People just want to hear good things about their bad habits."
That's definitely true, but not every movement that doesn't tell people good things but their bad habits
gets the same kind of hate as veganism does.
Take the sustainable fashion movement for instance.
You don't see people talking about how much they hate people that shop at the Salvation Army instead of H&M.
They don't get hate for speaking negatively against fast fashion because they're not self righteous,
even though talking negatively about fast fashion might make people who buy clothes
from fast fashion brands feel guilty about their choices.
People don't get hate for talking about composting or repurposing old toothbrushes to be more sustainable because
they don't act smug
and sanctimonious about it.
People don't dislike people for trying to do good in the world.
People dislike people who are arrogant about the good they're trying to do in the world
and they don't like to feel like they're being attacked for their choices.
Just like I'm sure a lot of vegans wouldn't like it if I called them up for certain things they did.
[sarcasm:] "I haven't bought any clothing from unsustainable unethical brands for the past year.
Can you say the same?
If not, shame on you. You're a terrible person.
You're literally destroying the planet and supporting sweatshops and child labor.
You should be ashamed of yourself."
Now I bet everyone watching this feels so encouraged to shop more sustainably right?
It doesn't matter how good you think the points you make are,
if whoever you're speaking with feels attacked or feels like you think you're better than them,
what you're saying won't matter and you'll only make veganism look worse.
> "For six years I was vegetarian. It didn't work out for me for health reasons.
I became really quite anemic and quite pawly when I was little-"
< "but that's just an anecdote."
> "I had a really low immune system."
<"That's an anecdote."
> "The UK actually has some of the
highest animal welfare standards in the world-"
< "That is nonsense."
> "I think we should all strive to just have a better awareness-"
< "You know what? Making a practical decision in a supermarket-
choose soy milk over dairy milk, choose tofu over beef. Choose plants over murdered animals.
That's a practical solution.
Going out, getting a gun, and shooting a deer in the head like you do is not a practical solution for the working class in the UK."
"I had to be vegan to align myself with my own moral code."
"Yeah."
"We're in a nation of animal lovers, it makes sense for us to extend that compassion to all animals."
"You know I was called all the horrendous,
misogynistic names
under the sun by some macho- brokelisters, we call them- vegans."
"I mean I don't condone those at all."
"These are statistics, they're not coming
from vegans-"
"But Ed.." "Yeah?"
"There's another issue to that..."
If you're making veganism look worse, you're probably doing something wrong,
unless you're stating scientific facts because obviously we shouldn't lie about the diet to make it look better.
But the animals and the environment don't benefit from vegans barging into steak houses yelling
"Meat Is Murder!"
because I'm willing to bet no one eating in those steak houses even considered looking into veganism after that.
Why would they?
Why would somebody be interested in a
movement when they have such a negative first-hand experience with it?
Clearly this isn't the best way to promote a plant-based diet.
When we talk about veganism to others, we should be aware of how they could perceive what we're saying.
We shouldn't say things that are gonna make them feel like they're being put down.
"What's your favorite candy?"
"Favorite candy?... Most candies without gelatin in it. Nerds-"
"Like name one, name one."
"Nerds."
"Just name one."
"Sour Patch Kids."
"Okay, those aren't vegan."
We should use arguments that are of course true but also effective.
Many of us are really passionate about the movement and that's great,
but we can't let that blind us from how we sometimes sound to non-vegans.
"I get offended seeing pints of milk.
I physically can't look at cheese."
You might believe that vegans are morally superior to non vegans and you might even be able to make a really good argument for that belief,
but saying that to a non vegan is just gonna make you and all the rest of us look like bigots.
If you believe that, fine, but keep it to yourself.
We have to use our brains, not our hearts when doing any sort of activism.
Venting about how you 'just can't believe that people are still eating meat in 2020'
or how you think anyone who wears fur is disgusting is not helpful.
We also don't help ourselves out when we discourage reducitarianism.
Many people do not want to and will not go vegan.
There are people that cannot go vegan and when we refuse to acknowledge this, we sound completely ignorant.
"Even though Beyond Burgers, Gardein, those aren't accessible worldwide,
we have fruits and vegetables everywhere."
"There's food deserts though.
I spent three months near the Arctic Circle in Iceland
and in Iceland their diet is just- it's such a cold climate- it's all like sheep, fish,
you know it's really- dairy and because that's what the land-"
"But they don't have any fruits or vegetables out there whatsoever at all?"
The vegan movement would largely benefit from us encouraging people to consume less animal products.
We can all live in a fantasy world where we believe that everyone will go vegan if they're just educated enough,
but that's not the reality we live in.
On the other hand, there are so many more people who can and will eat
one vegetarian meal a day or do Meatless Mondays or in general eat less dairy products.
People are also far more likely to take bigger steps in the long run if they see success after taking small incremental steps in the short-term.
If we were to encourage that for those who
don't want to or can't go vegan,
that would have a far greater impact on the animals and planet than the all-or-nothing method that is used by some vegans today.
We turn away so many people by making them think that going vegan is the only way.
We say things like,
'well is it okay to murder a human six days a week if you don't on the seventh day?'
and while from the perspective of some vegans,
killing a nonhuman animal might be just as bad as killing a human,
we have to act with public opinion in mind.
We can compare factory farming to the Holocaust and slavery all we want,
but if we don't understand how insulting and offensive that is to people and cultures who have actually been affected by those things,
we again come off as so ignorant.
You can even have some amazing justification to why you think the two can be compared
but no matter how good you can explain it, your point will almost never be received by non vegans in the way you think of it in your head.
Realistically, probably less than 1% of the world is vegan.
There are way more people out there who don't support the Holocaust, killing humans, or slavery.
When we compare things that almost everyone thinks is absolutely horrible
to something that many people have never even heard of and many of those who have heard of it have negative opinions about it,
equating them is just about the worst thing you can do.
People who are racist or murderers are considered to be awful by most people.
When vegans compare meat eaters to murderers, that makes the vegans look insane and outrageous
because it's so far from public opinion and it'll turned so many people away from wanting to learn more.
Something that society has deemed very strange and unusual is not something that should be preached like it's widely accepted to be evil
and anyone who doesn't follow it is
immoral.
Again, facts should not be altered or dismissed in order to make veganism look better,
but expressing feelings that alienate people and come off as arrogant, ignorant, or holier-than-thou is not good for the vegan movement.
"I mean I'm one of those people that you know- I'll listen to any argument but the more militant you are, the more I'll back away from it."
Contrarily, those who focus on sharing information about vegan health or recipes
or talk about veganism casually and not forcefully on social media or in real life
are so much more likely to leave a positive impression on people who watch or interact with them.
When talking about veganism, we should try our best to speak in a logical way, not an emotional one.
Of course I'm aware that there are many other reasons vegans get a bad rap, but bottom line,
most of it is our fault.
When people eat terribly planned vegan diets and develop health problems, that's not meat eaters faults.
When we cherry-pick information regarding the health and environmental impact of a plant-based diet and get called out for it, that's not meat-eaters fault either.
And if we don't communicate effectively, we can only expect that our message will be received poorly.
We can't go around acting like jerks and then feel bad for ourselves when nobody likes us and blame it all on them.
Far more people would be interested in veganism if less of us were so unlikable and unbearable.
People get enjoyment from hating annoying, pompous people.
They don't get enjoyment from hating likeable, kind, understanding people though.
So if we want people to like us more,
we have to stop acting like we're the most morally superior, righteous group of people to ever exist
and if we don't want people to like us
then we clearly don't know what's best for the animals.
