Because it doesn’t always start with a documentary.
So what is moral superiority exactly? By academic definition it’s when one person’s moral value is considered higher than its opponent. By pop culture definition it’s a whole lot of memes basically calling out those practicing vegans and vegetarians for making the rest of the population feel inadequate and inferior about their pizza topping choices. I don’t have a problem promoting a #plant-based, ethical, holistic, eco-friendly, meat-free, cruelty-free, carbon-neutral lifestyle, but being at the receiving end of the implied semantics: “you’re entitled to your own opinion, but yours is wrong” would infuriate me too.
Because it’s not just a trend.
For various reasons today, as many as 375 million have ditched the meat and animal products and made the switch to a greener vego diet. A funded study by Voiceless in 2014 found that 70% of Australians were jumping on the cruelty-free/anti-meat bandwagon. In broader terms, this only translated to a menial 1.5% of the world who were determined to become vegan or vegetarian for the long haul. The Journal of Ecology and Nutrition published a study about ex-vegetarians’ motivations for quitting, and the results are kind of awkward. If stats still spoken about 10 years later are telling us that 75% of plant eaters revert back to their old omnivore habits, surely this suggests that there’s something greater than misinformation, will-power, environment-saving and animal rights at play?? These unsustainable commitments are funnily enough driven by the moral and social pressures from the vego community and meat-eaters respectively.
So my fellow vegos and I cop a grilling (pun unintended) for being so vocal and passionate, while meat-eating folk think we’re trying to provoke them…cool. I mean okay fair call — we haven’t exactly made it very clear that we don’t think we’re better quality citizens just because we want meat that doesn’t taste like real meat. In fact quite the opposite in Italy; that’s if the bill passes, which sees parents jailed for malnourishing their children with a vegan diet. Isolating vegans only (and not population parents with obese children) is as absurd as it sounds, but the reservations people hold against the #NoAnimalsHarmed vego community is within reason when perceived as nothing short of an uneducated, cultish, pretentious, first-world luxury.
Let me explain. Here’s how we think we look:
But here’s what we really look like:
Here’s what Environmental activist and philosopher Sarah Bachelard had to say about all this moral superiority:
“There can be a tone of self-righteousness … a kind of shrill moral indignation … We know that we are on the side of the angels, and in our own way we can fail to do justice to the complex reality of most human action and motivation. We get something out of ‘being right’ … (and) satisfaction from making those who do not agree with us wrong.”
Because progress is progress.
When plant lovers showcase their perceived ethereal moral ground; in the eyes of meat-eating folk there’s understandably nothing appealing about both a ‘strict’ and ‘restrictive’ meat-less lifestyle. The outward looking in at veganism and vegetarianism manifests a social stereotype around the ‘oversharer.’ Confronting these perceptions front on and breaking down stigmas the same way the ‘Vegetarianism, Sentimental or Ethical’ study does, we start to see that there is actually no one way of acceptably doing things.
The Ethics Centre spokesperson, Leslie Cannold asks why animal rights activist and advocacy groups continue to advance vegetarian and veganism as the only legitimate way to end animal suffering when so many people believe in humane meat and an ethically carnivorous lifestyle. I’m not at all saying we shouldn’t bother fighting against animal cruelty, but all kinds of reasons have led to repurposing the way we look at the ethical-eating veg/an/etarian phenomena. While PETA are understandably against the humane meat industry, new hybrids such as the ‘cheagan’ (vegans with occasional cheat days) are paving way for more moderate versions of veganism. Yes the part-time vegan and the Meatless Monday vegetarian are legit things. For me, my vego story did not see me eating my last chicken nugget one day to completely quitting meat altogether the next; it was a long journey of cutting down my meat consumption over the course of 5 years, and that worked for me. Converting was one thing, the meat withdrawals was another, but dealing with everyone’s ‘concerns’ over insufficient protein intake and iron deficiency was an entirely different thing all together.
But this spectrum of meat-eating of course doesn’t come without its criticism and backlash from the hardcore herbivores when these appropriations don’t seamlessly align with their views. People revert in and out of these lifestyles, because they see it more as a passing trend than a full-time gig and that’s totally okay, it’s still progress.
Because animal rights is a 2-way street.
Social media is a breeding ground (pun definitely unintended) for THIS sort of activity. More emphasis is put on what’s bad, or for the lack of a better word — problematic with eating meat, rather than what’s positive about being vegan or vegetarian. There’s no denying the meat industry is a horrendous/torturous affair, but the picket, baptist vego/an stereotype we’re so notoriously known for is not helping the matter. Think about it — it’s pretty hypocritical to want to lead and live a wholesome, authentic meat-free life, yet every time an ‘ignorant,’ ‘ill or mis-informed’ comment appears in our newsfeed, it’s met with equal if not greater hostility. Gaining mutual respect is all about a wider acceptance and mindset from meat eaters, meanwhile vegos really have got nothing to lose but the holier than thou attitude!
If we want to take an impactful stand for animal rights, it should be less about the fear mongering, guilting, moral panicking, defensive fact-checking, people shaming; and more about celebrating what vegetarianism & veganism means to us, testifying to how great it makes us feel, championing the equal love we have for all creatures big and small, nurturing others’ interests and curiosities, guiding those who are deliberately turning a blind eye, and above all respecting various lifestyles and journeys. If all vegetarians and vegans could be as considerate of other’s beliefs as No Meat Athlete, as helpful as Destiny Diamante, or as cute as this👇 little guy, I think the world would be a better place.
Originally published at The Isthmus.
