#angry vegans

[opinionatedvegan]

I loved how pissed off you are, finally someone who gets it! I’m so mad about what people do to other animals constantly! Fuck

The price of being angry is that it takes its toll on your mental health. Don’t forget why you fight, but remember to take some time to care for yourself too.

[acti-veg]

i don't mean to sound rude but more and more researches show that being vegan damages your nervous system, especially if your body isn't done growing. also 90% of the vegans i've ever met (and my country is crazy about being vegan) are mean? they call people with a "regular" diet murderers and attack them, so it's really unappealing. if you want more people to take your side and become vegan, maybe don't be so aggressive and outright bully people.

I’m a little confused about why this is directed at me, have you ever seen me bully anyone? Plenty of vegans are mean, because vegans are just people, and people can be mean. Likewise, I’d say at least the same percentage of the meat eaters I encounter are extremely rude towards vegans, ranging from obnoxious bacon jokes to outright derision and mockery of the suffering of animals. I’ve seen young vegans literally bullied off this site by meat eaters sending them pictures of dead animals because they think it’s funny. Personally, if I’ve received less than five abusive messages on my blog by Friday I’ll consider it a slow week…

The truth is though, that I can’t hold you responsible for the behaviour of all meat eaters any more than you can hold me responsible for the behaviour of vegans. I can advise vegans on how to advocate, but quite frankly vegans have a right to be angry. Billions of animals are suffering horrific lives and deaths, because non-vegans refuse to stop supporting it. We can’t be expected to always be rainbows and sunshine when faced with those who support an industry we consider to be abhorrent. I always encourage education and patience, but when faced with such overwhelming cruelty, there is definitely a place for anger and passion, so long as it’s directed in the right way.

Just for your information as well, overwhelming medical consensus is that veganism is healthful and nutritionally adequate at all stages of life. I'm not quite sure what this research you are referring to is, but the British and American Dietitic Association, The World Health Organisation and the National Health Service are all in agreement that you can get everything you need on a well planned plant based diet.

[opinionatedvegan]

A frustrating trend I've noticed...

Whenever I see a post that says something in the vein of "I love being vegan, I like being involved in something, feeling healthy, and being a better human being", just a nice, wholesome post, without fail there's some asshole who has to come along and just shit all over it.

"This is why everyone hates vegans".

"Not everyone can be vegan, Karen".

"Mmm bacon is good".

None of these posts are ever talking about y'all, by the way; not even indirectly, but you just HAVE to make it about yourselves, every time. Y'all love to bitch and moan about how you hate the """pushy""", """pretentious""", """angry""" vegans, and then when we just want to be positive and share that positivity amongst ourselves, you have to come and ruin it because apparently vegans just can't have nice things. We can't just exist and be happy.

If y'all hate the """angry""" vegans so much, maybe you should start by not going out of your way to constantly antagonize us, just so you can have a reason to say "this is why everyone hates vegans" when we finally get sick of it and retaliate.

Then y'all act so surprised that a lot of us are angry. Jesus fucking Christ.

[opinionatedvegan]

Non-vegans love to tell us that if only we were nice to people when we advocate for veganism, they will listen. This is a lie. No matter how nice we are to non-vegans, they will still find a reason not to listen to us, because our very existence is “shoving our beliefs down their throat”. The very thing we stand for is a reminder of what they’re responsible for.

No matter how nice we are, we cannot advocate for veganism without showing people the truth of what’s happening to the animals that suffer. This truth is brutal and ugly, and non-vegans don’t like being reminded of it. No amount of politeness and kind words changes it. So instead, they shift the blame onto us to avoid the discomfort of feeling guilt, even when we are perfectly civil.

“You think you’re better than me!”

“Just live and let live!”

“Stop shoving your beliefs down my throat!”

The reality is, the truth doesn’t care about your feelings. The truth doesn’t change because a vegan was “mean” to you. Making animals suffer because you don’t like a vegan’s tone of voice when they are still telling you the cold, hard truth is childish and petty. 

Take responsibility for yourself, and stop blaming other people for your actions. 

[acti-veg]

I always try to be positive and a good example but it's hard when I'm honestly just bitter and I fail a lot of the time and just get angry. Like sometimes people say they feel bad when they're drinking milk when I'm there me and I say "that's a good thing! It would be way worse if you felt nothing, so that feeling shows your empathy (for animals) :)" to try and gently encourage them and plant seeds, but sometimes I just have no energy to smile at their bullshit

I feel like vegans end up feeling ashamed for getting angry because of how much pressure there is to be all rainbows and sunshine with people who refuse to change their behaviour. We have to keep our advocacy effective and personal attacks do nothing for the cause, but calling people out on shitty behaviour is totally legitimate, and so is anger. If someone is blatantly aware that what they’re doing is wrong, but refuse to change, it’s every bit of okay to call them out on it and them to account. Ask them why they won’t change, ask them why they believe there taste-buds are more important than an animal’s life, ask them why they care but don’t do anything about it.

Honestly before I was vegan, I met vegans who were very understanding of the fact that I was a vegetarian, which was great for me and gave me a good opinion of those vegans, but what I really needed was for someone to call me out and tell me that what I was doing wasn’t enough. Different things work for different people, you don’t always have to be rainbows and smiles when animals are suffering and dying in their billions and people refuse to help. In any other movement this is called tone policing, and like any other form of advocacy, there is a place for anger and passion, so long as it doesn’t just become attacking and shaming people. 

[opinionatedvegan]

Hi! I was wondering, do you think vegans should drop the "us vs. you" attitude? That perhaps it alienates people and makes them less likely to want to learn more about veganism?

I wouldn’t encourage going out of our way to be rude to people, but we shouldn’t have to walk on eggshells around non-vegans. Vegans are individuals, so some will take different approaches than others… and that’s fine. However, the cold hard truth of the matter is that animals are brutally tortured and die for people’s desires. No amount of niceness is going to change that, and in fact, Chill Vegans™ attacking vegans that are straightforward about it does a disservice to these animals. 

When vegans show carnists why what they’re doing is wrong, we make carnists feel guilty about it (and rightfully so). To alleviate this, they will then attack the vegan for the way their information is presented, rather than the information itself. It’s a bullshit way to try and turn the pressure back on the vegans, and I’m tired of it.

If they feel so guilty about it, why not do something about it instead of planting your feet in the ground and being stubborn? Why is the truth of what’s going on, the fact that animals are tortured and the planet is being destroyed, not what bothers you, but the fact that sometimes we say it in a slightly harsh way is? To me, it’s just a form of denial and a stupid mind game that needs to stop.

[acti-veg]

I’ve just found your blog but I have to say I love how rational you are about the topic. Many vegans I’ve met online are very angry and spiteful towards me when I say I’m thinking of going vegan but I’m not 100% sure yet (I’m attempting to loose weight and am working out meat and dairy substitutes that are healthy and fit my dietary requirements before I jump in) and it’s so refreshing to see someone like yourself spreading facts in a nice way and not getting insanely angry at none vegans ❤️

I’m glad you’re finding my blog helpful and that you like my approach. I just want to say something in defence of other vegans though, I think that anger and bitterness are very understandable results of having to have these conversations all the time, and with dealing with the cruelty they see every day. People approach these topics with us as if they are purely academic then laugh or complain when we get emotional, but for us these are very emotional issues because we know how high the stakes are. The isn’t a defence for vegans being abusive towards people, but I think that there is a place for anger, so long as it is channeled properly. My being like this isn’t because I’m not angry, it’s just what I’ve found to be the most effective way of advocating.

Regardless, if you need any help further down the line then please feel free to get in touch. Veganism can be done in a really healthy way and I’ve got plenty of resources to help you do that, and I’m happy to provide any additional support or help that you might need.

[opinionatedvegan]

I'm not quite sure if I fall under the "chill vegan™" definition. I used to be very confrontational and argue with everyone because I thought that was the right thing to do. And I also only accepted full-on vegan. Go vegan or you're an asshole, and people just stopped listening to me. Then I tried taking a step back and started to be more open to the smaller steps and I realized that people started to listen to me more. So I do that now. Does that make me a "chill vegan™"?

No. When I talk about Chill Vegans™, I’m talking about vegans who will act non-confrontational not because they find it to be a more effective way of promoting veganism, but because they truly believe that veganism is just a matter of personal choice. Take, for example, when they say things such as “I don’t mind at all if you eat meat! It’s up to you! :)”, or “I’m vegan but I believe it’s okay to eat meat if you kill the animal humanely! :)”

Carnists prefer vegans to be silent about their behavior, or to be in support of them, because that way they won’t have to consider the consequences of their own actions. Taking a friendlier approach is completely okay if that’s what works for you, anon. Just keep in mind that there’s a difference between being more relaxed and friendly in your activism, and enabling what you’re supposedly taking a stand against.