If you are Vegan, well done for being against animal rights discrimination/ speciesism. (Kindly refer to the Documentary films Dominion on YouTube for information).
But the road does not end here.
In addition, we must also be against all forms of injustices and abuse. It would be shocking if Vegans are not against them.
*** Please 🙏 understand we are all animals and an equality includes animal and human rights to be integrated and laws to include all forms of violence or abuse, namely emotional, mental, physical, sexual, economic, slavery, exploitation, control and coercion, harassment and stalking, discrimination, injustices, and other forms of abuse, to include all sentient species and against all forms of violence domestic, outdoors,workplace or otherwise.
1. Sexism: Discrimination against women primarily including gender based stereotyping, women to wear makeup, sexy clothes, high heels, lingerie, hair removal, to be erotic, to be slim with specific body shapes, to be young, etc. To do certain jobs, childcare, cooking at home, cleaning, beauty care, etc. Sorry to say I have felt this pressure at times of being a sexy vegan, and felt that no one took me seriously unless I had pretty selfies and if I looked beautiful and slim in videos or outdoors. I didn’t wear makeup and anything except my self designed vegan t-shirts with jeans for a number of years, and I have been celibate for many years to protest against this ‘erotic’ stereotyping.
Bodyshaming is linked to this. Saying ‘If you have a small penis become a hunter’ humiliates vegan men with small penises. Great Thunberg has been quoted to use similar statements against a billionnaire with many cars. Saying real women have firm and large boobs or sexy bottom or slim waistlines is also discrimination.
Please stop all this sex based discrimination and sexism.
2. Gender based Violence and Abuse: Violence against girls and women such as rape, domestic abuse crimes, including trans women. These are very much modern facts of life, and its not true that they have been dealt with. These crimes go unreported, uninvestigated, lack trials, police let’s abusers off easily, police harasses victims, and family or civil courts, and society too reverse blames victims and shames them. In certain cases, men can also be victims, but many times, they also might pretend as part of Narcissistic abuse and claim similar rights as the women whom they actually abused to confuse judges.
3. Ageism: Shaming people for grey hair, wrinkles, expecting that beautiful is young only, promoting only young people in activism (I felt this in the past in plant based rebellion groups at times), in media, as actors, as models, on social media. Also, discrimination against children, making them work for lesser pay (yes, as per UK laws, kids get paid lesser for similar work). Not letting children have the right to be vegan or be aware of facts of animal exploitation is also a social injustice against children. How dare we brainwash them with untruth and give them non vegan food that harms them mentally, emotionally, and physically with cancers and heart diseases? This goes against children’s rights to well-being, moral education, and the right to know.
4. Genderism: Thinking that biological sex is the only gender that is unchangeable. Ignoring gender reassignment, surgery, psychological identification with a different gender, and making a big issue about it without reason, even if it’s not something that harms anyone. On tiktok and media, a lot of discussion has been held, including by PM Rishi Sunak. What a discriminatory culture!! Personally, my opinion is gender should not matter. Female football, cricket, and soccer teams get lesser public admiration and play second fiddle to the main championship of men. This is wrong. Let everyone be in the same teams in all types of work. Transgenders challenge our social norms. Yet stereotyping of women wearing makeup, having less hair or made-up brows, heels, and being seductive in dress or walking or speech must be overcome in all communities, including trans.
5. Homophobia or Heterosexism: Yes this is also true for some people in todays world and they shame being gay or lesbian, believe its unnatural for people to feel attracted to the same or similar gender, or interfere in other people’s personal choice of sexuality unnecessarily if it harms noone. Just recently, an old spiritual friend from India made homophobic jokes over a phone call. In Vegan timelines, I have noticed homophobic posts at times.
I heard from a friend at an activism event last month that they are against one activist for being homophobic, although she denies it, so kindly ensure these are not misunderstandings to begin with.
6. Racism: A big thing which I never imagined would be true before I left my home country. I still can not believe how people isolate, control, and ignore or disrespect those who are from other ethnicities. I am a British national but honestly feel ashamed living here in such an environment because in my own country I am not feeling I am at home. Every single morning, I cry and feel terrible at how I am reduced to a nobody in the UK compared to career and warm friendships in India where I was born. And how the colour of skin is still considered a thing. How no one hears me usually in street outreach and people talk over me at times on social media in my city Chelmsford vegans groups and London at times or give me a cold gaze. (Recently in AV cube) or lack of emotional connection in VCO, isolation. Both I and my son feel this most of the time.
7. Casteism: This is a shameful reality that still exists in India where Brahmins maintain that they are superior due to paternal lineage and due to which my family from my father’s side was made poor and isolated, with no land or property entirely and causing deaths and depression in my family lineage and ancestry.
8. Classism: Yes, it exists. Cash is still king. Those who are struggling financially are still looked down upon. Women returning to work such as myself having a gap in CV post motherhood or violence are ignored in jobs market, in PhD seats, paid less money, ignored in various facets of life and past experience and degrees not honored enough as they want only current or very recent job experience or references. To say that weath, economy, power, status, fame, are are not something that people respect and are biased towards is purely turning a blind eye. Try being in my shoes and walk a mile to know if it hurts before telling me that people who are not of a higher economic strata are respected or given right rewards, recognition, or support. These lies take us nowhere. There is no need to minimise or deny.
9. Spiritual discrimination: A huge form of violence and abuse is religious and spiritual discrimination. Especially the fact that religions that say that those who are not of their faith are ‘condemned’ or go to ‘hell’ and are blasphemous and to be killed, still enjoying respect in society and their books and ideology are not yet banned is shocking. Those who have killed witches and their children, burnt us at stake, drowned us, sent us the gallows, humiliated us, ridiculed us, denied that humans have natural powers, sixth sense, deny that we live in a simulation, deny that reality is created mentally and by subconscious and conscious energy manifestations, are foolish, yet they dominate and control the world and call us truth seekers fraudulent. This is a huge discrimination.
I have seen some Vegans also indulging in discrimination, including those who are staunch atheists. I am an atheist but I am spiritual and recognise psychic powers as facts of nature as all animals have sixty sense, premonition of events and calamities, telepathic, and know our trail and know before we return home in case of pets, and sense spiritual energy or spirits. So please do not spread lies and block scientific understanding of metaphysical phenomenon if you are an atheist. This is discrimination and severe abuse of psychics or metaphysical experts.
Religions that have been discriminatory against women, whose God said to kill child, to stone to death rape victim women, kill homosexuals, liked burnt bulls and oxen as offering, killed firstborns are permitted to preach. Why?
Why are holy and ‘noble’ Koran literature in circulation that preaches to hit your wife and abandon her if she disobeys and to exploit and kill animals for animal products saying its to honour Allah? Religious gurus such as Iskcon Prabhupada of Hinduism that say women like to be raped and are of lower caste suitable to cook, clean, obey husband, and promote male Krishna more than feminine as supreme being, are still honoured, even by some Vegans? Strange. In fact, one vegan singer blocked me over this.
10. . Ableism: Discrimination against those who have disabilities. This is also a sad fact. We must have events, videos, and activism suitable for all abilities. E.g. captions on videos are necessary for hearing disabled. Sign language is used in professional events expecting disabled audience. Disabled Vegans are not less important or to be left out socially and in meetings, decisions, events, or activism. To speak badly against a disabled family or blame single mum of disabled child (my son has walking difficulties due to foot shape and growth but it’s not due to veganism or food deficiency), is also wrong yet a vegan female was so rude to me in comments when I posted a pic of Shaurya participating a march with me locally, and she said its better for him to live with other (non vegan) parent when I explained he is safe with me due to dangers otherwise. Stop finding faults with those who suffer and do not blame them for exceptional circumstances or disabilities and diseases. Mental disabilities are as much an issue and can at times be even worse to live with, and consideration must be given to help integrate those who suffer back into normal life with even more support and encouragement. E.g. both me and my son are trauma and PTSD victims.
I am sure most Vegans are already against most discrimination. But sadly, not all might be aware or give it enough thought.
Being Vegan is not the be-all and end of all our learning. It is merely one of the small steps to take, a part of the crucial changes we all make and must make philosophically against discrimination, injustices, and abuse, including the above.
Swati Prakash 