Appropriating Veg*n Terminology
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Terminology about vegetarianism and veganism has been co-opted. People have been using our language for things that are not about veg*nism. We all know about the raging debates amongst vegans about whether or not there’s such a thing as a “dietary vegan” but that’s not what I’m talking about here. Instead, I’m talking about outright lies. Take a look:
About half of all people who claim to be vegetarian actually eat animals. The Humane Research Council states, “A small proportion of U.S. adults (1-3% of the population, or 2-6 million adults) are ‘actual’ veg*ns, though about twice that number (4-6%) consider themselves vegetarian when asked by researchers.” source: HRC
Some people with eating disorders use vegetarianism as an excuse. The American Dietetic Association says, “Being vegetarian does not cause disordered eating as some have suggested although a vegetarian diet may be selected to camouflage an existing eating disorder” source: ADA
Many people call themselves “ex-vegetarians” when they increase their meat-consumption even though they often weren’t ever vegetarian! In a recent small study about the motivations of ex-vegetarians, the study authors stated that “Most participants ate some meat when they were in their vegetarian stage” source: scribd
Do you have any other examples of nonveg*ns and anti-veg*ns appropriating our terminology?
I hate it when people claim to be Half-Vegan or 50% Vegan because they eat only meat but no dairy, or because they eat no dairy but eggs or something like that…
Yes, it is a real problem and can create confusion or misrepresentation when someone who is not vegan/vegetarian identify themselves as such. But isn’t it interesting and encouraging that so many people WANT to be seen as vegan/vegetarian? Kinda tells me that they know it is the right thing to do. Or maybe they just want to appear “in”. But still they are admitting, even if only a little, that this way is better.
Good point, Debbie!
The most upsetting mistake omnivores (and many so-called veg*ns) make is that they use the terms “vegetarian” and “vegan” in a wrong context. Most of the people use vegetarian to describe a random diet like “no meat, but diary products” or “no meat, but fish” or “no meat, fish, diary products, but eggs” etc. Also, many people that claim to be vegan to not consume any obviously animal-derived products in their nutrition, but don’t care about animal-derived additives in their food – and, even worse, their veganism does not affect their lifestyle in any other than nutrition.
To make clear what I mean:
Vegetarians (as defined by the British Vegetarian Society in the early 20th century) are people that have a proper plant-based diet, absolutely free from any animal products or animal-derived ingredients. Their compassion only refers to their nutrition, though.
The term “vegan”, however, refers to a whole lifestyle – a lifestyle of compassion for any living on this earth – meaning proper vegans do not eat animal-derived products, do not use cosmetics, clothes or anything that contains animal-derived additives or that have been testes on animals. This is a much more complex lifestyle. The term “vegan” was created by the British Vegetarian Society, taking the beginning and the end of the word “vegetarian”.
The misuse of those terms lead to confusion and makes the lifes of total vegetarians and vegans much more complicated than they could be.