the what and the why

September 23, 2009 at 9:47 pm · Filed under thoughts are thinky and tagged: fat positivity, mmm creedy, veganism

I’m fat. And I’m a vegan. Many, many people consider these things mutually exclusive; they aren’t. Many people believe that you can’t be a vegan who’s “doing it right” and still be fat; they’re wrong, and who gets to say what “doing it right” is, anyway? We all know people (the Skinny Bitch authors, Jennifer McCann’s misguided blog “This Is Why You’re Thin”) and groups (the always-appalling PETA) who insist that veg*nism leads to thinness/weight loss for everyone; they’re wrong. Veg*nism does not necessarily = thinness or weight loss. Fat vegans exist. Fat veg*ns who eat all the “right” things (an arbitrary and hurtful idea if ever there was one) exist. Fat vegans who eat all the “right” things and get plenty of exercise?  I think you know what I’m saying  here – they exist. Some people are fat, just like some people are tall/brunette/willowy/freckled/whatever. Bodies come in every size, shape, color, ability level, et cetera; not one type is right, and not one type is wrong.

Promoting veg*nism as a diet is unfair to veg*nism (weight loss and veg*nism don’t necessarily go hand-in-hand; there are many excellent reasons to be veg*n, but offering weight loss as the reason puts veg*nism forth as a weight loss tool and not the compassionate, enlightened lifestyle choice that it is, which will only encourage people to try it and then discard it if it, like every other diet, doesn’t lead to rapid and/or permanent weight loss). It’s also wildly unfair to any veg*n out there that isn’t thin or doesn’t lose weight after switching; it casts doubt on our honesty, our sincerity, our lifestyles, our choices, and our very validity as members of a veg*n movement. It shames us and makes us aberrations amongst our veg*n peers while simultaneously making us invisible in our own community. Sometimes, like in PETA’s horrible billboards this summer, it makes us the target and the enemy, despite being exactly what PETA wants everyone else to be (except, of course, thin).

So. I’m a fat vegan. I exist. This is my voice. This blog is my way of fighting the stigma of fatness – the stigma of fatness in American culture, and the stigma & invisibility of fatness in veganism – while also advocating for veganism as a beautiful, compassionate choice that brings joy, abundance, and really tasty food. I’m also aiming for some myth-debunking: Talking about what I eat, and showing pictures of what I eat, will not only show that fat people do not sit around shoving Cheezy Poofs (or, for vegans, Tings) and Mallomars (or, for vegans, Newman-Os) in their mouths nonstop, it will also show how veganism does not mean deprivation or tastelessness. Veganism is delicious, and everyone should know it. Also, I firmly believe that you can never have too many blogs that serve to answer those omnipresent questions about what we vegans eat “besides salad”.

And that’s the what and the why of my blog. Thanks for reading.

Permalink