Why would anyone consciously claim to follow a philosophy if they don’t actually live the tenets of that spoken philosophy? In certain limited cases, I can understand it. Under religious oppression, whether on a large scale as in militantly religious countries, or on a small scale at home with fanatically religious parents, it is clear why someone would claim to be part of a certain group, culture or belief system, even if they really don’t believe it. But when someone claims to be vegan, but doesn’t live the lifestyle, I get deeply confused. What’s in it for them? Vegans generally despise hypocrites. Non-vegans generally have great disdain for vegans. So who are these people trying to impress?

I experience similar confusion, when I hear people claiming to be “vegetarian, but I eat fish”. What on Earth is that supposed to mean? In what universe is a fish a plant? You clearly misunderstand something (for that matter – in what universe are eggs and rounds of cheese vegetables…? What does vegetarian mean then? A discussion on its own though). It’s almost as if these people subconsciously think that being vegetarian would score them karma points; would give them the moral high ground, because they care so much more about animals than you do (and isn’t that precisely the stereotypical accusation so often thrown at veggie-types?). But then, Cobain sang it himself, “But it’s okay to eat fish, ’cause they don’t have any feelings.” Right…?

I kind of get the same impression from people who claim to be Christian, for instance, but drink excessively, use foul language, have premarital sex, etc. Sure, you may agree with the fundamental teachings of Jesus (which I don’t think many people can really have a problem with). That doesn’t make you a Christian. Going to church doesn’t make you a Christian. Actually adhering to the teachings and principles as set forth in your religious writings – that’s what makes you a Christian (in that sense, I’ve met very few actual Christians).

Here’s a word of advice – to you, fish-eating “vegetarian”, to you, leather-wearing and health “vegan”. You’re ridiculous to everyone who actually follows the philosophy. You’re ridiculous to everyone who doesn’t follow the philosophy. Because you look like a wannabe who latched onto a fad. Additionally, you are usually the people who are most vocal and extreme about these things, even though you don’t understand them very well. You’re the ones who look a little crazy to the rest of the world and you’re the ones who create the stereotypes that the rest of us get painted with.

I’m not saying that people who actually live the philosophy are perfect. I’m not saying that if you claim to be vegan and you once made the mistake of eating a piece of crumbed something that turned out to be cheese, you’re going to be kicked out of the vegan inner circle. It’s happened to all of us. Especially in South Africa, where so many things are mislabelled. Technically, in the past three and a half years that I’ve “officially” been vegan, I’ve probably only really been vegan in practice for about three months consecutively. Every time you think you’ve eliminated all the animal products from your life, it turns out something else never listed that it contained casein. Or another company has been discovered to actually be testing on animals. Or, you simply didn’t know, and no one else bothered to tell you.

In most of these instances, the discovery is traumatic for me. I’ve been at places in my life where I felt so utterly betrayed by companies I trusted and whose ideals I thought I could believe in, that it almost seemed that acts of sabotage against these companies were the only retort (please note, I do not condone this – this was in periods of absolute desperation and hopelessness  and inability to deal with trauma – an inordinate amount of rage against someone who betrayed you whom you thought you could trust completely). Of course, these companies not actually being run by vegans, they do not have any idea of the amount of trauma that they cause people like me. They think that by offering you some condolence prize to shut you up, all will be mended and you’ll continue shopping with them. To me, it’s like you coming to my house, pretending to be a loving family member, murdering my child and then offering me a box of chocolates saying, “I didn’t know it mattered that much to you…”.

So what does the label “vegan” or “veganism” imply then, as opposed to “vegetarian” or “strict vegetarian”?

Veganism is animal rights philosophy. They go hand in hand and cannot be separated. This is why I find the notion of people who are “vegan for health reasons” so ridiculous. No – I’m afraid you’re a strict vegetarian. It’s the same as if I were to say “I’m Muslim because I like the kufi and kameez”. No – that doesn’t make you Muslim at all. You’re a deluded hypocrite. It makes you someone who cherry-picked something (often entirely non-central to a philosophy) and is now claiming the whole label. This again goes back to the claims of following a philosophy, when you really don’t. I understand that there is often a lot of misunderstanding around something and that there are clearly a lot of people who don’t fully understand what veganism means. I’ve been vegan for nearly four years now, and some of my closest friends and people I’ve worked with forever, still seem puzzled by the fact that I refuse to wear wool, don’t use honey, etc.

There’s something to be said for people who do or live something and share their lives and knowledge with others, but I also think that the onus shouldn’t be entirely on me. Wouldn’t it be unbelievably self-indulgent of me, for instance, to visit China without any attempt whatsoever to learn of the customs, respects, language, culture and history and demand that the Chinese people fill me in on absolutely everything? It becomes even more difficult with veganism (a phrase I actually hate… “-ism”), because I find that there is an immediate defensive stance that gets adopted by non-vegans when a vegan is “outed” at any event (especially dinner, of course). The willingness to listen goes out the window immediately and the battle-stance is assumed to defend their carnist ways.

So, in brief, for those of you who stick your fingers in your ears and start shouting loudly when vegans are trying to explain why they believe their way of life is the most compassionate and ethical choice, here are a few things that veganism is not:

• it is NOT a belief system
• it is NOT a religion or a cult (one of the more extreme accusations I’ve heard)
• it is NOT for hippies (though unfortunately, this seems to be the stereotype)
• most importantly – it is NOT a diet.

• hypocrisy
• labels
• laziness
• mislabelling
• misunderstanding
• strict vegetarian
• vegan
• vegetarian