Archive for August, 2010
Basing our advocacy on values we actually believe in
Aug 9th
Many animal advocacy groups emphasize being “normal” or “mainstream” in order to reach a bigger audience, even when being “normal” or “mainstream” means participating in exploitation or excluding some groups. There are many examples of this. Some groups say we should eat honey in public so we don’t alienate mainstream (speciesist) audiences. Some groups say we should forget human oppression when we talk about veganism because audiences might reject “a package deal.” Some groups say we should avoid the word “vegan” because the mainstream is not ready for it. In each case, honesty about what we believe is sacrificed in order to appeal to mainstream audiences.
There are times when pandering to the mainstream doesn’t seem very harmful, but I think it still leads us to adopt practices inconsistent with our beliefs. Many groups emphasize the importance of wearing dress clothes when doing outreach, and not having a long beard or tattoos. But if veganism is an inclusive movement, I think the more appropriate message is that it’s okay whatever you look like.
Instead of pretending we believe in some audience’s values, I think we can impress people with vegan values. We can answer their questions, be patient with them, and listen to them. I think this is a more solid foundation than whether or not we have a beard or tattoos. If we are warm and kind, I think we are modeling what we believe in, and our behavior matches our message.
In my experience, it is not common for someone to be honest and respectful like this when talking about a social issue. Usually activists list facts and catch-phrases without really listening to your responses; they are selling something, and they treat you like a poltical unit. Because of this standard, I think it is powerful to listen to someone and talk to them personally about why you are against exploitation. This approach is so different from the way our society usually is—with everyone selling an idea or product—I think it can surprise people.
We don’t need to pretend we are anything we’re not in order to advocate veganism. We don’t need to support mainstream practices like judging people by their clothes, possessions, and external displays of status in order to advocate veganism. We can base our advocacy on values we actually believe in—warmth, honesty, and respect—not conformity or pandering to the mainstream. Thank you very much.
New video available: “You Can Help Stop This”
Aug 2nd
L.O.V.E.’s new video and pamphlet documenting speciesist oppression, “You Can Help Stop This,” is now available at YouCanHelpStopThis.com. Video subtitles are available in Chinese, Dutch, English, and Greek, with more coming soon (please contact us if you’d like to contribute another); pamphlet translations are coming soon. The video can be watched on Youtube and Vimeo, as well, and it can be downloaded from this page. An image for DVD burning will be available soon.
The core difference between “You Can Help Stop This” (YCHST) and other animal advocacy videos is that YCHST repeatedly emphasizes exploitation, whereas “Meet Your Meet,” Earthlings, and other videos focus on specific details of various industries. For this reason, “Meet Your Meat” is not a vegan video but an anti-factory-farming video. While Earthlings addresses many speciesist practices, it makes each argument separately: specific reasons to change our diet, specific reasons to boycott circuses, specific reasons to stop using leather. Comparatively, I think the message in YCHST is coherent, holistic, and clear. The first titled section directly addresses exploitation, the following sections all return to exploitation, and veganism is defined as a principle of non-exploitation. I think this clearly presents speciesism as a system of oppression, and I think it presents veganism as a coherent, effective response to speciesist oppression.
From the beginning of this project, I imagined like-minded vegans using this video in place of other activism clips that, while emotionally powerful, are limited in their presentation of a vegan perspective. If you believe in veganism as a principle of non-exploitation, not just a lifestyle that happens to solve various problems, I encourage you to view this video and share it with people you know, to spread it online and show it in your communities. I feel very satisfied upon completing this video and sharing it with you all; I think it expresses my reasons for “being vegan” more clearly than I ever have before. Thank you very much.
Click here to watch the new video: www.YouCanHelpStopThis.com