Intersectional Vegans: Search for a Community That Doesn't Exist

Fat.

Fat is something that pretty much everyone talks about. The discussion is almost always centered
around how not to be fat with the occasional fat acceptance blurb thrown in there before promptly being smashed and strangled out of existence. Fat acceptance is a stain on intersectional politics.
Even the most intersectional among us tend to be fatphobic, especially thin intersectional identified people. Let's be honest here, fatphobia crosses political lines. It doesn't matter how conservative or how progressive you are, you're probably fatphobic. You may even consider yourself to be an ally to be fat people and the fat acceptance movement, but when is the last time you called out fatphobia, posted an article on fatphobia, brought it up in a group, raised up the voices of fat people, or even made a simple post on social media denouncing fatphobia. Where are you allies when I'm fighting trolls telling me to get cancer and die or to kill myself and make the world a better place. You're probably focused on some intersectional issue - any intersectional issue- except for mine.

Don't get me wrong here, other intersectional issues are important- ableism, sexism, racism, queerphobia, transphobia, etc. But, I think, what you fail to realize, is that fatphobia intersects with each and everone one of those things. Intersections- I mean, that's what you thrive on. Looking at overlapping oppression and seeing the individual struggles that marginalized people face because of it. Unless that person is fat.

If you're not flat out fatphobic, I'm surprised, but what's far more common are people who claim to be allies, but don't actually care about fatphobia or thin privilege. You may pay lip service to your own thin privilege, but that's as far as you're willing to go. I even know thin "allies" who exclusively date and sleep with other thin people under the guise of "it's just a preference!" or "I just haven't found a fat person I'm attracted to yet". Guess what? We make up 2/3 of the population in the United States, but you haven't seen a single fat person who is attractive and willing to sleep with you? Give me a break.

Getting back to how fatphobia crosses political lines, I'd like to talk a little bit about fatphobia in the vegan movement. I think we all know by now, that vegans can be some of the most fatphobic people in the world. Veganism, even veganism properly focused on non human animal rights and liberation, has a vein of healthism running through it, which hugely intersects with fatphobia. The idea that veganism is healthiest when eating a plant based diet and that that will result in thinness as well as lack of health issues.

I'm pretty sure that I haven't met a single vegan yet who hasn't said something shitty to me about my body size (even if they've grown over time by knowing me and become a better ally). And those who haven't said anything shitty, well, their actions speak  loudest. Vegans often pride themselves on being progressive and intersectional, even as sexism, racism, fatphobia, and healthism flourish within the community. Even then, there are many groups which specifically were established to fight racism and sexism in mainstream veganism. Fatphobia is rarely, if ever, a part of their mission statement as something to resist or fight against.

I'm not even necessarily upset by mainstream vegans who engage in all kinds of bigotry. I'm upset at those vegans who think they are above those problems, that bigotry. Vegans who are intersectional, feminist, and anti racism. Vegans who talk about classism and accessibility, and then sideeye you when you are fat and not ashamed of it or actively tring to lose weight. Vegans who schedule meetings and social activities in places that you don't fit or belong. Vegans who talk about cleanses and green smoothies and how, not that size is important, but, they've lost 5lbs already.

As an intersectional feminist and a fat vegan, I'd love to say that I've found a communit who shares my ideals. I have not. I feel outside of every group or community that I am a part of and find myself leaving those communities with regularity.

Vegans: you need to do better. You need to be better. You need to talk about fatphobia and issues surrounding fatphobia. You need to talk about the oppressions that intersect with fatphobia and you need to acknowledge our privilege. Be an ally. No.. be a good  ally. Examnine your prejudices and biases and come out a better person for it.

I'm tired of standing alone.

But what about the children?!

Yesterday afternoon I was fortunate enough to be a guest on HuffPost Live speaking about vegan parenting in a segment called Is Veganism Safe For Babies? There were several things that I wanted to say that I didn't get a chance to. Like how much my son loves being vegan, how he never feels left out because we plan well, how he loves talking about loving animals to others, and more. But mostly I wanted to talk more about weight stigma. Now, I know it had nothing to do with the segment but Chubby Vegan Mom (Amanda) just had to go and bring up "CHILDHOOD OBESITY BOOGA BOOGA". Can we please stop talking about fatness as an epidemic? Epidemics are for infectious disease, not human beings and their body shape or size.

I was disappointed to say the least. Even now, thinking about that conversation lays heavy on my heart. From a self proclaimed chuccy/thick woman as she calls herself came so much hand wringing about the children and their body shape. She called it an epidemic and pretty much ignored my argument that body size is not a proxy for health. That there are skinny unhealthy people and fat healthy people. She just kept saying she agreed BUT THE CHILDREN. I guess we should just ignore the fact that eating disorders and poor body image among youth is far more prevalent than any lifestyle related illness. And, of course, I say lifestyle instead of weight because weight is not a proxy for health.

Of course, the omnivore mom then went on to argue that weight was absolutely a proxy for health (though not the only one) despite being told that we needed to stop talking about it as we had gotten off topic. I wish I'd had the chance to respond, but I respected Nancy Redd's request to stay on topic about vegan parenting. But it's worth discussing the fatphobia that seems to prevalent  in veganism and how it impacts vegan children.

One big risk for eating disorders is internalized fatphobia. Literally a fear of becoming fat. Children and Teens who are "overweight" are at a larger risk for eating disorders to try to lose weight. More than 90% of girls want to change their appearance with weight at the top of that list. Think about that for a second- 90%! If you have a daughter then this is a horrifying statistic. So how many children (boys and girls) fear becoming fat? About 80%. That's the same number of 10 year old girls who have dieted by the way. They're more afraid of becoming fat than they are of losing their parents according to one poll.

The list of statistics on body image, dieting, and eating disorders goes on. So what happens when you're already on a restrictive diet and your vegan parents are obsessed with weight and are instilling fatphobia in their kids? There are no statistics on vegans and body image, let alone vegan children and body image so I can only speculate on the consequences. And with the rise of Orthorexia and Bigorexia (the obsession with eating healthfully and exercising) I can't say that I'm not worried about the future of veganism and it's followers. I think it's immensely important to have body positive vegans.

Let's be honest here, veganism isn't going to cure childhood or adult "obesity". It's not going to make everyone thinner. Though I encourage healthy eating (although health is NOT the focus of veganism which I don't think came across in the interview), it does not equal thinness nor is it an obligation. Most parents do the best they can and we can't ignore the parents who work too many hours for not enough pay and who can barely afford the boxed mac and cheese they serve their kids for lunch. The interview included a lot of what I thought was definite food policing. There was a lot of talk against processed foods for example. Nevermind that they're often much easier to prepare for those without the time or energy to make huge meals from scratch. They also help vegan kids (and adults) feel less left out at events.

I wish we'd had much more time and I do hope that I can go back on HuffPost Live at some point to discuss these issues with veganism, fatphobia, and food policing.

Bloggers, I need to talk to you

A while back I wrote a post called Vegans, I need to talk to you, to discuss the healthism and sizism that goes on in the vegan community. As a vegan myself I find it abhorrent that veganism has become just another fad diet to some and that people feel the need to justify it by tearing other people down. Today the shoe's on the other foot and bloggers- it's your turn. I'm tired of seeing veganism shoved into your blogs in paragraphs about eating disorders and diets. On tumblr I saw a blip just yesterday which said " making me want to hurl my uber-processed fast food milkshake all up in their homemade vegan-frosted faces. With a goddamn maraschino cherry infused with red dye #40 on top. ". Really? Is this what we're resorting to? Tearing down people who make lifestyle choices that are different from yours? Isn't that what you're upset about to begin with? Enjoy your processed milkshake, but don't threaten me just because my vegan lifestyle offends you. And, ironically, this post is about food shamers- while food shaming!And guess who gets food shame and body policed worse than fat people or vegans? That's right- fat vegans.

Part of HAES means being educated about the food that you put into your body and making choices based on your individual needs, wants, and reactions to those foods. So if I choose to eat veggies and hummus while you choose and sonic burger, why is that such a big deal? So healthism is when you discriminate and/or are intolerant of someone based on their health status. When you feel superior to someone because of the health choices they may or may not make- I talked about healthism in Vegans, I need to talk to you because it's a serious issue in the community. However, I don't see much of a difference in looking down on someone's food choices while feeling superior as a fat acceptance activist in the way described by that tumblr post.

And if you've mentioned veganism in fat acceptance, you know who you are. Veganism or vegetarianism shouldn't come up at all in your post unless you're specifically addressing sizism issues within the vegan community. It shouldn't be compared to an eating disorder, it shouldn't be called a diet. Because it's not. By it's very definition veganism is a lifestyle choice that seeks to end bullying and abuse- hey.. just like fat acceptance! It's not about losing weight, it's about trying to lessen/end animal cruelty, exploitation, and objectification. Vegans are people too and we come in all shapes and sizes. It's your turn to step back and check your presumptions at the door. Because all of this vegan shaming? It's, well, shameful. Now please, cut it the hell out.

But, what do you eat?

I'm vegan, gluten free, and fat. So I get asked what I eat an awful lot. Since I love taking photos and I get tired of answering that question I created WTF Do You Eat? (Diary of a Fat Vegan) which chronicles everything that I eat, every day (seriously). And I wanted to share with you by posting photos of what I ate over the past three days and you can see more by visiting my blog! I don't feel the need to justify what I eat, I have no idea how many calories are in each meal, and I eat what I want, when I want, how much I want. I'll tell you that my new fave snack is tortilla chips and guacamole- yum! My favorite sweet this week? Ghirardelli semi sweet chocolate chips (as you can see in this morning's breakfast!).

On The Menu:
Wednesday:
Morning O's with banana (okay, this wasn't gluten free. It was an accident as I just had a brain freeze)
Pad Thai with rice noodles
BBQ tofu

On The Menu:
Thursday:
Cap'n Crunch cereal
Tofu pups
Roasted carrots, potatoes, and parsnips
chips and guacamole

On the Menu:
Friday:
Chocolate chip waffles
Beans and Franks
Fried Rice
Cherries

PETA: human rights not as important as animal rights

How did I miss this? Possibly because when it came out in October of 2010 I hadn't discovered body acceptance yet. That and the ad was rejected by Southwest Airlines although not for any noble reason. Apparently they sited the ad being too provocative but a swimsuit model is just fine. But the horror of this ad isn't directed at the airline so let's get back to PETA. Their sexist, body shaming, and fat hate ads are well known and this just adds another to the pile, but, in my opinion, it goes a tad further by playing into the intrusive violation of rights that are body scanners.

The ad features an photo of a thin woman, neck down, in just her underwear which reads "be proud of your body scan: go vegan". Did everyone else just facedesk? Yes? Okay good, let's move on. Ignoring the fact that we should be protesting body scans, not being proud of them, we're going back to the same 'ole argument that vegan = thin and thin = good. Not only does thin = good but apparently it's the only thing that matters when it comes to body pride. Couldn't someone still hate their body scan even if they're thin? If they didn't like their hips or their belly button or their breasts? Or what about men? Body scans show quite a bit of detail (and, unlike the ad, they show you naked, not with undies)- enough to make out your junk anyway.

So while you're being completely and utterly violated by the TSA, all the while worrying about whether they'll make you buy an extra seat or give you a hard time, maybe you should remember next time that going vegan makes you look like the girl in the PETA ad.

See how svelte I became?

Snax!

Today I was reading this post over at The Fat Nutritionist (if you don't follow her yet, you need to get on that ASAP!) . What's better or more yummy sounding than a post about snacks?

Michelle says

Snacks are legitimate, snacks are official, and when you decide that you are going to eat them and make them a non-negotiable part of taking care of yourself with food, you can stop feeling guilty about them immediately.

I'm right on board with that. Since I began eating intuitively I've done plenty of snacking. It would probably be helpful to delve into the depths disordered eating that I engaged in pre fat acceptance, but I'm not going to yet. It's an emotionally painful topic that I'm not yet prepared to share. Someday I hope I will, but let's just say that intuitive eating was a radical change for me. When do I snack? Usually when my tummy's a-growlin' and there are still hours to go until the next meal. I've learned that when my body says eat that I should probably listen. Yeah, it means I may eat less at meal time, but it doesn't matter because my body is telling me when to stop eating and, well, it knows best.

Just for fun I thought I'd tell you some of my favorite snacks! And then you can share some of yours!

Fruit! My faves are bananas with peanutbutter and flax seed, strawberries, plums, and oranges

Veggies!  My favorites are carrots, tomatoes (I know, technically a fruit), cucumbers, and broccoli . My most common snack is veggies with hummus or a delish vegan ranch dip made with a cashew base. (really- basically just cashews, vinegar, and some spices! yum!)

TOFU! (yes, that did warrant all caps) I can't even tell you how much I love tofu so sometimes when I'm hungry and in need of a snack I'll toss 1/4lb of tofu with some BBQ sauce

Guacamole and tortilla chips- preferably organic blue tortilla chips. (I know, the photo is of a taco dip with follow your heart vegan cheese, but I didn't have any photos of just guac)

source

Peanut butter wafers. Mmmm. This one's only a recent snack item since I only discovered that these were vegan and a "hell's yeah!" was in order. 

Mmmmm snacks. So what are your favorites?

edit: the peanut butter wafers have changed their formulas it seems and are no longer vegan (or I somehow missed 'milk fat' in the ingredients list the first half dozen times I read it)