I think that knowing the definition of veganism is the bare minimum. Gatekeeping is one thing, but you should at least know what the thing you’re trying to join is. If you’ve done zero research, that’s on you.
I think I understand the complaint. It’s shitty when a word with a clear definition gets literally co-opted by the masses. Then you have to go find a new word for something that was already solved.
That being said, I’d rather we dilute the term vegan if it means getting more people to eat less meat. You can invent new words faster than you can convert people.
The problem is when said research runs you straight to a bunch of nasty people over and over. Really dampens enthusiasm when trying to get into something. Veganism is not something I personally want to get into (I’m not opposed, I just read threads to get other perspectives on things in general), but I observe the same behaviour in vegan threads as I do in other communities with die-hard enthusiasts for things that I am into. The same behaviour is also in Linux communities which makes me hesitate to recommend it to people, because it has a toxic shithead problem.
Kinda like when you look up a problem and the first thing you run into is a guy telling the op that they’re a moron and to just google it
I think that knowing the definition of veganism is the bare minimum. Gatekeeping is one thing, but you should at least know what the thing you’re trying to join is. If you’ve done zero research, that’s on you.
What I would say to folks is that they should do whatever they want. If they want to eat a 99% plant based diet, then they should do that.
It’s not gatekeeping to say that you aren’t vegan if you eat bacon, but at the same time, veganism is more about ideology than diet.
I think I understand the complaint. It’s shitty when a word with a clear definition gets literally co-opted by the masses. Then you have to go find a new word for something that was already solved.
That being said, I’d rather we dilute the term vegan if it means getting more people to eat less meat. You can invent new words faster than you can convert people.
The problem is when said research runs you straight to a bunch of nasty people over and over. Really dampens enthusiasm when trying to get into something. Veganism is not something I personally want to get into (I’m not opposed, I just read threads to get other perspectives on things in general), but I observe the same behaviour in vegan threads as I do in other communities with die-hard enthusiasts for things that I am into. The same behaviour is also in Linux communities which makes me hesitate to recommend it to people, because it has a toxic shithead problem.
Kinda like when you look up a problem and the first thing you run into is a guy telling the op that they’re a moron and to just google it
You don’t do research into anything by asking random scrubs on the Internet.
Read a book, read a book, read a motherfucking book.