Fat Hate Bingo! We won’t tolerate any of that shit here
Why I’m not looking forward to spending tomorrow with the family.
The thread was getting too long to reblog, so I’ll just put my two cents here.
Classism and ablism are some of the main things that totally alienate me from the vast majority of animal rights groups I’ve encountered (aka all of them) despite the fact that I am a vegan and believe in animal rights. NONE OF THEM recognize that folks have their choices limited by ability or circumstance. One of the leaders of HALA, the animal rights group on my campus, once wrote in her facebook status something to the effect of: any bloodmouth (slur against omnivores) that engages in social justice work is a hypocrite. I think, first off, the fact that there is this slur against omnivores (and that is not an uncommon word in the “radical” vegan/animal rights lexicon) shows just how little these people understand, or even care to understand, about the lives of people who eat meat. It reveals a complete lack of empathy for a fellow creature that is disturbingly oppressive for a movement that claims to be part of the general anti-oppression movement. Second, socially conscious people do what they can to forward social justice work. No one can do it all. In this sense, we are all hypocrites. Social justice work is about doing what you can when you can, it’s not a set of rules. Also, holier-than-thou attitudes are dangerous anywhere, but especially when it comes to food (I’m looking at you, diet industry). But you know what the real hypocrisy is? It’s using slurs to erase the significance of the work of so many awesome people within the social justice movement.
This whole “dear vegan” discussion reminded me of this comment (which, in all fairness, she redacted when called out on it) because I feel like it so clearly illustrates the unproductive attitudes many animal rights activists have.
PS To the person who said “just have a backyard garden” very few people actually have backyards or an okay from their landlord to garden it in any significant way (this summer my housemate made a big garden in the small backyard we had and it resulted in the loss of our deposit). Also, gardening is pretty hard work, and lots of folx don’t have the time or the ability to maintain a garden. Gardening is a privilege that comes with wealth, ability, and general situatedness. Think a little bit before you try to tell poor folx how to live. Then think about it some more. Then just don’t do it.
The food justice, animal rights, and environmental movements are also extremely sizeist and fat-phobic, in my experience. Although I agree with their basic principles (and try my best to live out what I can afford to), I have difficulty lending my support to causes and organizations that use my body type as an example of what not to be. How can I endorse movements that not only accept obesity myths without question, but consciously use fat bodies to exemplify overconsumption and environmental destruction? How can I make alliances with people who openly express their disgust with the body I would have whether I was an omnivore or a vegan, or who would think they could “solve” my “health issues” with a diet change?
There’s a huge need for some serious self-reflection within those movements, and until they are willing to address the classism, racism, ableism, and sizeism that is rampant in their ranks, they’re going to continue alienating people and losing potential allies, like my beautiful fat self.
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