Just letting out some steam ...
I know idiots can be found anywhere, not just the vegan community, but it just pisses me off how some people act... I mean, I'll gladly admit I had some judgemental and stereotypical thoughts about vegans some years ago, until I got more vegan friends, talked to vegans about their choices, and especially since we got around to do more for the environment, we eat less meat and got more interested in vegetarian and vegan diets. So I lurked around more in vegan communities, and obviously the majority are fine, and you tend to notice the aggressive ones most because they are the loudest, and that of course doesn't mean they represent the rest of the bunch.
Anyway, heres to the actual rant.. I was poking around on Instagram and followed a bunch of vegans to look for some inspiration for our meatfree days (and, because they are people like everyone else, some have some nice IG), sometimes I unfollow again, sometimes I don't.
One of them noticed her new follower, and response to this went to my profile (I guess thats what most people do when they get followers - I know I do), found the latest dinner pic, which happened to be fish, and wrote something along the lines "How can you love animals if you eat them". My only response to that, was "Because there are more than one way to view things".
But it kinda pissed me off more than I wanted to express in the situation. I just don't get that attitude. It insinuates that there are only one way of being a true animal lover, and thats the vegan way. Its a really arrogant view point in my opinion. Although I can completely understand where people come from when they say "friends not food", most of the vegans I talk to still respect the fact that veganism is not for everyone, even if they have very strong feelings about it themselves.
And what exactly would you want to achieve with that question anyway? You're shaming someone for not having the same viewpoints as you. Is that supposed to convince me of being vegan? By insulting me? Especially about something that is a matter of opinion. Had she talked about the environmental effects of eating meat, it would have been something different, as that is not a matter of opinion. But it would still be rude as fuck.
The funny thing about it though, is that she, by a glance at least, looked like a somewhat superficial girl. I could be totally wrong, but she looked like the type of person who liked to spend money, maybe updated her phone at least twice a year. Didn't look like the type of person who shopped at thrift stores, or would find it gross to use cloth pads and diapers for her baby. I could be totally wrong, but it would be a surprise if she were that kind of person, at least most vegans I know try to do more for not just the animals, but the environment in general. But its weird with this 'all or nothing' mentality. Granted, she had no idea that we used to eat as much meat as most people, and that we have cut down drastically (but she cared to look, I do have a lot of vegetarian food pics as well), but I had a very strong feeling that in a total comparison, I think we live a far greener life than she did.
I'm probably overthinking it (I know I am), and it was just this one comment. Although not the first vegan with a snarky attitude, and most likely not the last either. I just don't get how these people think.
I do a great effort to live as green as I can, and I honestly see no point of judging someone for not being "green enough", as if a small effort didn't matter if you didn't follow all the way through. Although idiots can be found in any community, I just stumble upon them more often as vegans (or radical feminists) than most other communities of that kind. I've never seen a zerowaste activist shame someone for shopping too much, or saying something like "How can you say you love nature, when you buy single-use plastic products". If I did however encounter someone who acted like that, I would honestly tell them to shut up, because thats not how you convince people to make a change, quite the opposite. |
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