We Are All Advocates
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Three things happened yesterday. Three actions by vegans; three representations of veganism; and three opportunities for advocacy.
First. My mother, a new vegetarian and a very gregarious person, described to me that while on vacation with her three sisters over the weekend, she noticed that whenever she ordered vegetarian food at a non-vegetarian oriented restaurant, other people paid attention – including her sisters, the server, and other patrons nearby.
Second. I declined a cookie in my French class, and a simple “Merci beaucoup, mais non – je suis végétalienne,” turned into a half-hour long conversation about why I chose to be vegan, what it’s like, and whether I could recommend any good recipes for a husband who needed to lower his cholesterol.
Third. In the comment section for a news article about an animal-related topic, a commenter with the simple handle “Vegan” responded to a carnivorous commenter with snide sarcasm and vicious personal insults rather than reasoned argument, and then vacated the forum, whereupon the discussion turned exclusively to questioning the sanity and intelligence of vegans.
To me, this all speaks of a common theme: we are all advocates. One of my favorite parts of Jonathan Safran Foer’s book Eating Animals (required reading, if you haven’t) is when he explains that no one eats in a vacuum. Unless you shop in stealth and always eat in perfect solitude, others will notice your diet choices, whether you intend to draw attention to them or not – especially if your diet is outside the norm, like vegans. You don’t have to carry a sign, wear a button, or hand out pamphlet. If you choose to be vegan, others will notice.
Moreover, others will draw conclusions about vegans and veganism based on you. As individuals, our behavior is extrapolated and generalized to represent the whole of the vegan ideal. Unfair? Yes. Inaccurate? Probably. But it happens all the time. One of the most common issues vegan advocates deal with in conversation with others is the “Well, I know a vegan who…” story. They know a vegan who yells at people eating meat at parties; so all vegans are preachy jerks. They know a “vegan” who eats chicken; so all vegans are hypocrites. When we choose vegan (or choose to use the word “vegan,” however inaccurately), we are all ambassadors for the vegan cause, whether we – and others – like it or not.
With this in mind, I believe that we vegans all have an obligation to present ourselves in a way that is good for the cause. Any good activist knows that hostile attacks, like the one mounted by my angry compatriot on the comment board, are bad for business: we want to get through people’s defenses, not hurl insults against them. Shock value is sometimes good for getting people’s attention, e.g. the infamous red paint, but you can win more hearts and minds with a smile than a snarl. And one of the biggest mountains we must surmount as vegan advocates is credibility – too often, we are unfairly written off as foolish, naive, overly sentimental, irrational, or even insane. To that end, I’ve come to believe that every vegan has a responsibility, both to other vegans and to the vegan movement, to be well informed, reasonable, polite, and willing to engage others who disagree in a positive way.
This is not to say that we shouldn’t be passionate, or that we must all agree philosophically. You can be passionate about the many sensible reasons to support veganism; you can promote your philosophical viewpoint while acknowledging the validity of others. We must simply present ourselves in such a way that others begin to see veganism as an ideology that makes sense and is worth consideration, and to see vegans as the dedicated messengers of compassion and wisdom that we are.
What do you think? Are we all advocates? Do we all have a responsibility to be good ambassadors to our cause? What does being a good representative mean?
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About the author: Kayla is a 23-year-old psychology researcher, yogini, and amateur chef. Her preferred method of activism is to feed people delicious vegan food.
Great post! I agree that if we label ourselves as a vegan than we need to realize that all vegans are affected by what we do as an individual. It’s kind of funny that when I tell someone I am a vegan they seem to have the need to tell me what they don’t eat. For example they’ll say they don’t eat red meat but they eat chicken and fish. I’m thinking “why do they need to tell me this?” I think they feel uncomfortable and maybe we are judging them for the way they eat. We shouldn’t be judgemental by any means because that will have a negative affect. I recently went to a vineyard afternoon dinner with my husband, 4 course meal, and the chef prepared me vegan meals. Everyone around me was looking at my meals and waiting to see what I was going to get served.
If we want things to change than we have to have to be positive and show people that we are happy people. Our way is about being free from guilt and living in a compassionate way.
I have a couple of good friends who have greatly decreased their animal consumption as well as my in-laws eating more vegetables and having fruit smoothies for their morning breakfast. So people do watch and listen.
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“Are we all advocates? Do we all have a responsibility to be good ambassadors to our cause? What does being a good representative mean?”
In general, yes, we’re all advocate whether we like it or not. And in general, if we really care about animals, the environment, and human health we ought to be “good ambassadors,” which I think means being honest yet respectful and doing our best to encourage veganism in others.
But I have a few thought experiments:
a) What about children born and raised as vegans? Do they also have this responsibility to represent the animals? Wouldn’t that be an undue burden on them? Aren’t people allowed to just be who they are?
b) What if it turned out that the most effective animal advocates went through a stage in their activism wherein they spent time behaving in ways that some people describe as “counter-productive”? What if it’s really just a sign that someone’s becoming a more effective advocate? What if the rude discussion board vegan is simply stepping up from modeling veganism to actually advocating veganism? What if the next step on their journey is far more productive than any of your three examples above?
c) What if for every one vegan who behaves like the rude discussion board commenter there are three vegans who behave like you and the net result is a “good cop, bad cop” kind of thing that effectively produces social change?
As a vegan I feel like we all have to walk this tight-rope when expressing our opinions about food. If we get overemotional or angry about an animal welfare issue, one time, Vegan’s get red flagged as “extreme” or “militant”. I do my best as an advocate to be as rational as possible about my views on food, despite the avalanche of jokes, criticism, comments under people’s breaths, but I must admit it wears on me.
Actually a meat-eating friend of mine had this exact conversation about “extreme” vegans the other day. Even though he said he wouldn’t label me as extreme, he still makes jokes about Veganism, but always prefaces it that I am the exception. I asked him where his broad generalizations about vegans came from, and he brought up the classic line, “I met a vegan who…” entailing a vegan he met that went off about her vegan cup cakes she made. So BOOM. That’s his story. All vegans are militant and extreme now. Why does it have to be so black and white? If I made the same generalizations about meat-eaters, I’d be cast off to a cave in the mountains!
Many people jump on the vegan train because of the health benefits. Soon, they become concerned about the animals. Some are concerned about the animals first. Regardless, they are on the right track.
“First. My mother,… noticed that whenever she ordered vegetarian food at a non-vegetarian oriented restaurant, other people paid attention – including her sisters, the server, and other patrons nearby.”
Many of my friends often feel compelled to let me know what veggies they have for lunch at work. I am not sure exactly why this is. But, my guess is that they are either just trying to relate or they admire you for it.
“Second. I declined a cookie in my French class, and a simple “Merci beaucoup, mais non – je suis végétalienne,” turned into a half-hour long conversation about why I chose to be vegan,”
A similar thing happens when some other trade brings donuts ‘for the guys’.I have even had the pleasure of my friends offering me natural apple juice. while they explain to ME why being organic and/or, at least, why a plant based diet is the best. Then they ‘snap off a “Slim JIM”(tm). sorta funny, really.
#3? Well, it is easy to hide behind a computer and ruffle feathers.
The biggest problem I have is defining veganism as a philosophy? or a diet? I say strict vegetarian is the diet. “Vegan” is the philosophy.
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I don’t agree that we should behave perfectly all the time. That smacks to me of the way men talk about sexism. “Well, if you weren’t so shrill and strident and explained it all nicely and pleasantly…”
Blech. I have no need for it.
I live my life, and if someone wouldn’t become vegan b/c of something I said or did, then I don’t think they really have it in them to be vegan, anyway. I think a lot of vegans are pretentious, perfectionists, and police other vegan’s behavior looking to expose every misstep. I didn’t become vegan in order to part of a group, especially since a lot of the members of the group are jerks. I did it for the animals. And if I can overlook boorish behavior to do what is right, so can other people.
I’ve heard people say that PETA pisses them off so much that they go out and eat a hamburger to spite them. That’s so irrational. You’re not hurting PETA by doing that, you’re hurting the cow.
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Wonderful post, Kayla. Wow, I wish I had been this smart when I was 23. I’m sure you’re a much better advocate for animals than I was.
Your thoughts resonated with me today especially since I just had to delete a comment on one of my facebook status updates. A friend, who is not vegan but is trying to make more ethical choices, made an honest comment about one of those choices. Someone else jumped in and corrected her in a very rude and unkind way. She could have just as easily made the same point in a way that would have been less hurtful and therefore most likely more impactful. It’s hard of course, to always feel called upon to be non-judgmental and non-angry when dealing with people who are contributing to animal abuse. But we have to stick with what works for the animals, whether it’s fair or not. I can’t say I’m always good at this, so thank you for the reminder.
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I’ll openly admit I was a real pain in the keester before I went vegan… Argumentative, hard to please, openly impatient and overly judgemental. That was then. Just a minor “quirk” in my personality. I was often “rude” – But the only one who suffered was “me”.
Everything has changed now! There is so much riding on what I say and how I say it. Things matter more – for the animals and for the Earth I hold dear.
Granted I still get frustrated – more so now because the issues are so dire… But I make efforts with each encounter to remain civil, and even “nice” when people tell me they “can’t” give up meat/dairy, etc. It’s very simple; If I remain civil I still hold their attention. I give their view credibility. They know I’ve heard them… They are more likely then to hear what I have to say. BUT I never hold back on the truth- and if hearing the *facts* presented in a non-accusatory way distresses them… They need to figure out the source of that anger themselves. I’m not to be held responsible if reality “offends” their “sensibilities”.
…And in this very strange way – being vegan has made me a “better person” — Go figure!
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What do you think? Are we all advocates? Do we all have a responsibility to be good ambassadors to our cause? What does being a good representative mean?
Great article! I am a firm believer that we have a responsibility to the cause to be educated “mythbusters.” Unfortunately, I think some vegans themselves buy into the stereotypes, thinking they have to be aggressive in order to be a “perfect vegan.” (of course, there is no such thing!)
I think being a “good representative” means knowing when to speak and when to let your lifestyle speak for itself. Don’t be afraid to say, “I’m not sure how I feel about that” or “I don’t know, I would love to research it more though.” I don’t think it is the goal to “convert” everyone we come into contact with, but to just make people aware and let them decide for themselves.
Wonderful post and amazing comments as well!
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