#preachy vegans

[acti-veg]

I don't understand the "preachy vegan" stereotype. My veganism literally only comes up when a) someone asks me or b) someone who already knows "outs" me. Other people love to talk about my veganism way more than I do. And even then, somehow, when I'm literally not even the one bringing it up, people react defensively. As if I'm the one being pushy and insufferable. It's hard to "lead by example" when no one even seems to see the actual example I'm setting. All they see is a made up guy to be mad at.

Also I've never seen anyone more pushy and preachy than someone on a carnist fad diet like "keto" "paleo" or "carnivore"

I think it helps to remember why this stereotype exists in the first place. It didn’t come about because of how vegans behave, it exists solely to keep us quiet. It is pre-empting us standing up for animals by slapping us with the preachy label if we ever dare to speak up. People have done this to social justice advocates for decades.

It is the same as the preachy feminist stereotype, it is the same as telling protestors to get a job etc. It is an easy way to dismiss the message without having to actually engage with it. It isn’t the preaching they disagree with, it’s the fact that our mere existence is a challenge to their values and sense of self.

This is what the vegans are who work so hard to be “chill” and quiet about it eventually learn: It doesn’t actually matter how chill you are or how small you make yourself because they’ll label you as preachy the moment you say anything that even references your veganism, even if only to explain why you’re refusing a particular food being offered. It isn’t just that they want you to be quiet, it’s that they want you to pretend that you aren’t vegan so they don’t have to remember that eating animals is actually a choice.

You have to reassure them that eating animals is totally fine, that animal cruelty isn’t really an issue and that you don’t judge them at all for buying products which result in enormous cruelty and environmental destruction. Only then will you be one of the “good ones,” when you have betrayed all of your values in the hopes of them forgetting that you’re vegan at all.

[lunarfeat21]

I love this already

[alone-in-a-cafe]

IF YOU ARE A PREACHY VEGAN REBLOG THIS SO I CAN FOLLOW YOU 🌈

(Racists, albeists, homophobes and transphobes don't interact)

[archangelically]

-_-

[quotesfromall]

If a friend of mine starts comparing everything to the Holocaust – when a waitress messes up his order, she’s like Hitler; when I fail to appropriately cite one of his papers, that’s a scholarly Holocaust; etc. – I may regard this as an annoyance and tell my friend to shut up already. Vegans, however, are obviously not making frivolous charges.

Michael Huemer, Preachy Vegans

[acti-veg]

I don’t think that people grasp what it is that they’re actually asking when they tell vegans not to ‘push their beliefs on others.’ This can only be understood as asking us to stop advocating for animal rights and stop speaking up for the victims of animal agriculture.

You can dislike pushy vegans or want to be one of the ‘chill ones’ if you like. But the fact of the matter there is no way for us to just stop talking about animal agriculture or promoting veganism while simultaneously defending animals. What they’re actually asking us to do is to be silent so that they don’t have to feel bad.

[acti-veg]

It sucks how literally just...talking about food as a vegan is seen as preaching. I was telling a family member about how it's frustrating that a lot of stores and restaurants only stock almond milk when soy is clearly the superior plant milk. She was like "thanks, but I'll stick to dairy". Meanwhile she constantly talks about meat she's cooking, but if I said "thanks, but I'll stick to seitan," whenever she did, that would ALSO be me preaching.

I think that this is a very common experience for vegans; I can certainly relate to it. I can’t count the number of people I’ve met who honestly expect me to actively hide my veganism, as if it were some deeply uncomfortable taboo that isn’t polite to even mention in public. As much as that is an exaggeration, it isn’t a million miles away from what I think the truth is. Every-time we talk about veganism we remind them that they are actively choosing to harm animals when they have the option not to - which is an uncomfortable thing. It doesn’t matter how quiet you are about your veganism, people will still accuse you of being preachy, so you may as well not pay any attention to it either way. This is a stereotype that really only exists to silence and diminish us, so we certainly shouldn’t fear being labelled as a ‘preachy vegan.’ In fact, I’ve come to embrace it.

[acti-veg]

What is your opinion on the "Vegans" who act like "I'm not like the other vegans"? I genuinely dislike these people as they are begging for acceptance from meat eaters. I see them a lot in posts about honey "I'm not like those OTHER vegans, honey is ok for me to have and I'm still vegan". Just say you don't care about animals or veganism and move on....

We generally call them ‘the cool vegans.’ Honestly, I can sympathise with the desire to avoid the kind of hate and condemnation that vegans who actually speak up in defence of animals are subjected to, and I think that is a large driver behind the behaviour. It also tends to be newer vegans are still convinced by the ‘preachy vegan’ stereotypes, and haven’t yet figured out that they’ll be mocked and hated no matter how quiet they are about it. The truth is that there are just too few vegans, and too many animals suffering, for any of us to have the luxury of silence.