Self deprecation goes a long way

1005: 

Some vegans can come across as being up themselves, as if we would rather be seen as too serious than be mistaken for being half-hearted in our views. But it widens the gap, and it makes for communication difficulties.

To prevent this over-serious image, I’d rather try to do what comedians do - they risk everything by laughing at themselves, to first get their audience on side.  They might try to appear stupid or ‘uncool’ or even clumsy, but they’re really busy getting the human dynamic working; they’re building a wave to ride on, to carry the whole audience away, as if by surprise.  When they do it well, the audience loves it.  They laugh out of gratitude, learning something about themselves, in that they’ve been so easily fooled by the trick of the comedian’s self-deprecation.  I think we, as animal advocates, can do approximately the same thing.  We have to do something unusual to take the heaviness out of our subject.

I’ve found even with the most hostile bunch of people, a little self-deprecation goes a long way.  If I’m prepared to laugh at myself, show my vulnerability, show a soft underbelly, then I’m likely to be seen incapable of doing much damage – to show that I’m not wanting to be hurtful.  And in the end they’ll be more prepared to listen to even the most difficult material.  And let’s be clear - our material is NOT what people usually want to hear.  It can make people feel very uncomfortable. 

           

In the hands of a good comedian (whose jokes, shall we say, are being aimed at vegans) we can be sent up.  They may portray us as ‘bleeding hearts’, animal lovers, fussy eaters, tree huggers, etc.  There’s no reason why we can’t describe ourselves like this, and enjoy the joke of these stereotypes.

           

In this way, we can show we aren’t afraid of being made fun of, thus showing we’re confident of our selves and our views.  It also proves we have a healthy sense of humour (without which animal rights advocacy doesn’t stand a chance)!

By letting someone see my naked side, I’m showing I trust them, that I’m not considering myself too important to be laughed at.  When I put on my clown mask, I’m better able to show my serious side too.  If I seem a bit weird, so what?  As long as I keep my sense of humour plus a non-violent tone in my voice, then I can speak freely without doing damage.  And then what I have to say won’t be reacted against or too easily dismissed.

We have a strong message that needs to be sung lightly.