Typically, society associates vegans with the classic stereotype of preachy, accusatory environmentalists and animal rights defenders. Still, some sources estimate that the number of vegans in the United States has increased. While it’s difficult to determine the exact rise in veganism, a few factors can aid in illustrating the increase in veganism across the United States. Retail sales of plant-based foods are a primary indicator of the jump in veganism. In the past six years, plant-based food companies in the United States have experienced an approximately 5 billion dollar increase in retail sales. Further, from 2020–23, they’ve raised more money from investors than they did in the 14 years prior. Although veganism seems to be becoming more popular, the stigma associated with it has not dissipated.
People can subscribe to the vegan lifestyle for a number of reasons, from health benefits to environmental preservation. Yet, it is often the vegans who limit their meat and animal product intake to protect animal rights that are the most outspoken about their diet. When being outspoken becomes accusatory, however, the vegans that criticize omnivores for their lifestyle inadvertently reinforce negative stigmas about the vegan community. Perhaps, if vegans approached their activism differently, the vegan community — including those who are not accusatory — would receive less hate.
Unfortunately, the vegans many Tufts students are exposed to happen to be the ones plastering posters on street lights claiming meat eating is a moral emergency and deceptively offering students ‘dog meat’ as a ruse to convert them to veganism. The latter tactic is a trend on college campuses meant to spark a conversation defending animal rights, inspired by the Allied Scholars for Animal Protections. The intention behind these peaceful protests is pure; however, students who have encountered such protests, like those at Brown University, note that the messaging might be more harmful than helpful.
This opinion is reflected in quantitative data analyzing society’s impressions of vegans. Unsurprisingly, studies show that a negative perception of vegans undermines the effectiveness of the community’s strategies to reduce meat consumption. Vegans motivated by animal ethics were perceived differently by omnivores, indicating an underlying bias that discourages omnivores from participating in conversations about animal-rights-based veganism. In two different studies, these vegans were seen as more morally committed but also more arrogantly overcommitted. However, perceptions of strong morals in the second study were minimized when vegans were described as active advocates. Outsiders primarily equate active veganism with arrogant overcommitment, lowering the social attractiveness and strengthening the stereotype of vegans as arrogant and aggressive with their activism.
The professional term for this conundrum is the “vegan paradox.” Omnivores view vegans as morally committed because they clearly care for animals but simultaneously negatively stereotype vegans because they feel unfairly attacked for their dietary choices. While some vegans strategically focus on the health benefits of veganism to avoid conflict, the few vegans that do overtly promote veganism by belittling non-vegans worsen public perceptions of their entire community.
‘Gotcha’ traps like those on college campuses ultimately validate the claim that vegans are obsessive and aggressive. Although not all vegans adopt the same tactics or even desire to recruit others to their cause, there are more effective ways for the entire community to promote veganism. For example, vegans could instead respectfully educate their omnivore peers and focus on the various health benefits of a vegan diet. The validity of pro-vegan arguments gets lost in translation as a certain subsection of vegans adopt aggressive means. With a slight modification to protesting tactics, the “militant vegan” stereotype could give way to a much more positive public perception of vegans and spark a meaningful conversation about animal rights.
