Vegan hate

I recently faced one of my first interactions with someone who harbored so much hate towards veganism, and it was obvious that they were simply uneducated on the topic. In retrospect, there were so many facts I could of pulled out of my head in response, but instead, I just nodded along and told them to have a nice day. The shock I felt from experiencing this blatant disrespect for my own personal choices caused me to freeze. I never had a person react this negatively towards my veganism, so instead of reflecting and absorbing their energy, I decided to do some research on “vegaphobia” and why people decide to act this way towards vegans.

Vegans face this blowback because they call out moral inconsistencies and challenge commonplace customs and traditions. The Minimalist Vegan categorizes vegan hatred into three separate root causes: cognitive dissonance, moral reproach, and threat theory. 

Cognitive dissonance is defined as the mental discomfort experienced when someone holds two or more contradictory beliefs, values, or attitudes at the same time. An example of this would look like someone enjoying the taste and convenience of eating meat but believing that it is morally wrong, thus creating conflicting feelings about their dietary choices. 

It’s not about a lack of awareness or misinformation, our society has become numb to animal exploitation and consumption, compartmentalizing and ignoring real feelings about such practices.

Vegans expose this messy underbelly of internal conflict and force people to face their moral beliefs, which can be uncomfortable. The natural response is do-gooder derogation: the act of putting someone down because they’re trying to improve the world. It’s a coping mechanism for cognitive dissonance, tearing other people down for living their values. A similar experience is “goodie goodies” being bullied at school because seeing others do good in the world can make others feel insecure. 

The next category is moral reproach: the disapproval of another person’s actions, usually done in an emotional way. This can be an effective strategy, but can possibly backfire and make the other person more resistant to change. Vegans are unafraid to question people’s moral identity, which understandably can make others uncomfortable. 

A study found that meat-eaters generally believe that vegans see them as morally inferior, and the stronger the belief, the more negative light is shone on vegans. A follow-up study showed that vegetarians and vegans somewhat look down on omnivores, but not to the extent that is typically perceived. Therefore vegan derogation is a “preemptive strike against a vastly exaggerated threat”. In the case of vegans, they aren’t as “aggressive” and “emotional” as the stereotype usually presents. So no matter what they do, the overall perception of moral reproach drives anti-veganism. 

The last reason for vegan hate is the threat theory: when people perceive a minority group as a threat to their way of life. When vegans attempt to influence the meat-eating majority, they feel their traditions and customs threatened. In some households or cultures, fond memories are created from consuming animals. Vegans come along and present a direct threat to these cherished practices. 

Religious and political beliefs also tend to influence anti-veganism. According to the previous study, heavy bias exists toward vegetarians and vegans among prejudice prone people. Those with a strong right-wing ideology were linked with more negative opinions towards vegetarian and vegan lifestyles. 

It doesn’t matter how veganism is expressed or how non-threatening vegans can come across, the message is heard as a threat to the status quo. Vegan livelihoods are always going to be inconvenient to the omnivorous majority. 

“Just like any discrimination or dislike, every interaction is an opportunity to create a new reference point.”