Systematically Oppressed Vegans

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Comment by Thäran sXeVegan on January 3, 2013 at 5:57

Greetings, thanks and best wishes for 2013, Kerry :) Thanks for joining. And that too, I don't get that definition of courtesy and I do encounter a lot of lack of respect/courtesy daily so it's a bit offensive maybe, and certainly is to the animals whom we're supposed to be allies to. If I were with family at this time of the year, there'd be those passive-aggressive statements without me saying anything, and you'd think there wouldn't because they're all vegetarian but they feel uncomfortable around me, maybe they wouldn't had it been a vegan meal for everyone. I guess it's a similar 'discomfort' that any member of the oppressive group towards allies of oppressed folks in situations where they don't think they're oppressing anyone, but there's the internalised oppressive mechanism maybe or a lack of sensitivity, more apparent if it is not an ally but an oppressed person on the receiving end of some seemingly mundane interaction. I guess the degree of 'discomfort' can be higher in the case of speciesism because it is so deeply ingrained in others... A resource on the other kinds of allyship/advocacy http://blackgirldangerous.org/new-blog/2012/12/26/the-essentials-of...

Comment by Kerry Baker on January 1, 2013 at 9:41

Good morning and Happy New Year.  Thanks or the invitation Tharan and yes I can see aspects of what you are talking about in some of the discussions in vegan communities. What does concern me is that in some way being vegan is at times seen to be almost an insult to non-vegans, for example some vegans suggesting that if they were invited to dinner and served meat they'd eat it because to refuse would be discourteous. There appears to be something of a push for vegans to be submissive and stop talking about vegan philosophy. I'm seeing an increase, or perhaps just noticing it more, that there are more devious arguments emerging to keep vegans from being seen as legitimate and our lifestyle is subtly under attack.