Boasting about being vegan

Vegans often want to make a big deal out of the fact that they’re “vegan”. It’s worn like a badge of honour. Sadly the motive for doing this is mixed; on the one hand we want to appear brave and ridicule-proof (proud of being vegan) and on the other hand we want admiration for being vegan.
Boasting is our big problem. Like bullying, no one likes it. Being vegan isn’t about being “who I am”, it’s about communication. We have this vast untapped subject, and obviously we like talking about it, especially by breaking a few barriers in omnivores. We obviously like to reach them, about this ‘animal thing’. And if we’re not using it as a platform for boasting we can’t possibly fail in our mission. But quite how? That’s the question. How to make contact when on this subject? Whew! That’s the BIG one.
How are omnivores seeing us (whether as vegans or generally as reps for veganism)? They’re either hostile or blasé. We, of course, notice precisely what they are. We see how it appears on their face … if the subject arises. Sometimes it’s ill-concealed, sometimes subtle, and yet in the mind of the omnivore (if she or he is in touch with their feelings, whether hostile or don’t-care) it is precise. It’s clear to them where they stand. In this regard they accept the status quo. They actively support a barbaric and cruel industry, and because it is so bad no one talks about it. That’s why we are so resented when a vegan dares to bring up the subject.
We meet someone new, who is a balanced, social-justice-aware person, educated, possibly ‘intelligent’. It only needs a short time with them, maybe a few hours, to notice what they eat – and that tells you what they ‘accept’ about their world. It tells us what they think about commodities from “barbaric and cruel” backgrounds. Soon enough certain core attitudes show through, by what a person is eating.
The temptation is for vegans is to try to convert people to vegan diet. But I think the real work in Animal Rights is to help set a trend in attitude and not just emphasise food and health because it might win people over. A more attractive feature is in recognising the ethic of ‘the greater good’.
Being vegan is about what food we ingest but mainly about animal liberation. I don’t think ‘vegan’ will ever catch on unless this is made clear. That means talking about it. Obviously we can’t persuade people who don’t want to be persuaded. But how can we tell whether a person is anti-us or just not-yet-ready? And because we have no way of knowing and no evidence, then no value judgement can be made, and we have to give everyone the benefit of the doubt. We have to give everyone a chance to make amends .
First, we should let them know it ISN’T just about being kind to your stomach and about making your face look good at forty. Second they kneed to know what else is involved. The difference between a vegan and an omnivore is that we have certain information and they probably don’t. This information isn’t terribly complex but it has been hidden for a long time. Our job is to find a non-threatening way to pass some of it on, hopefully sparking an interest. At present almost every omnivore is blocked from it and a million miles from thinking about it. As a subject veganism is as foreign as pig husbandry.
Our general unpopularity may just be the tip of the social-pariah iceberg, but our ‘outsiderdom’ might have to get worse before it gets better. We’ve a long way to go yet before the masses are even considering the attractions of seeing their plates meatless and seeing the cage doors opening.
Let’s not shoot ourselves in the foot (at the outset of this global Animal Rights Consciousness Movement) by boasting, neither to people who’re willing to listen nor to people who won’t.