Protests Can Look Ugly

2020:

As vegans, we may be convinced of our own non-violence. But then we ‘do’ an angry protest. To people who see us, we’re off-putting. Our high moral ground might give us confidence. We feel that we are so obviously right. And yet we don’t see how, drip by drip, our protest seems too harsh, too ugly, and even violent.

To be non-violent, I think, we ‘activists’ (so-called!) do need to consider developing a level of control, where words are strong but not frightening, where voices are loud but not screaming. Collectively we can seem too big for our boots, over confident or even brash. The vegan public-face is sometimes off-putting. Whereas when we are at home, it isn’t like that at all, because we’re not trying to impress anyone. Lifestyle-wise, vegans are pretty much fine examples of non-violence. It seems a shame to wear our darker side in public, just to appear deeply dedicated, even when it’s just a one on one.

In practice, vegans show an ‘at-peace’ spirit, because we have low levels of ‘spending-violence’, i.e. buying, say, animal-stuff or guns or something which supports crime. At home vegans are cool. It’s only when we’re trying to be effective outside the home that we hit trouble. Like when we want to be ‘hot’ (passionate) and our appearance lets us down. Vegans should, of course, always feel safe when we go up against the ‘big-bad-world’. When we have to face some opposition, face some curly questions, how we handle it makes the main impact.

I know an 18 year old who is into vegan food, but she’s stuck on shoes. She loves shoes. (What woman doesn’t?) But there isn’t much of an alternative to reasonably priced, leather fashion-shoes. So, why does my ‘vegan’ friend wear leather on her feet? Maybe it’s the fear of social failure - a beautiful dress, a magnificent everything else and it all falls to pieces if she wears canvas on her feet.

Of course, this usually isn’t so much of a problem for men, well not for me certainly but then I’m not 18 and not dating. And of course, it doesn’t matter eventually because as soon as there’s enough demand for a different line of shoe, then a whole range of magnificent plant-based footwear will suddenly appear, and at competitive prices.

The world is moving towards cutting unnecessary costs by ‘going-plant’. Fashion will shift towards both non-animal foods and fabrics. However, it all depends where we spend our money now. If you join the boycott and sponsor alternatives, fashions will change. And it’s the fashion market which determines whether we get plant-based shoes.

But back to my friend. It must be annoying to her that, because of the shoes she chooses to wear, she can’t actively promote vegan principle or Animal Rights.