In my previous blogpost, titled, I'm an Animal Rights Activist, I mentioned how I now prefer to call myself an animal rights activist than calling myself a vegan, explaining why. In this similar blogpost, I want to mention that I also now prefer to say I use cruelty-free products instead of saying I use vegan products. Again, as mentioned in my previous blogpost, the word vegan is such a light, fluffy euphemistic word; it lacks the seriousness and power that the word cruelty-free has.
For instance, if someone offered me some ice cream, and I politely say, "No. I don't eat ice cream", they might say, "Hmmm. Since when? I saw you eating ice cream the other day." I could then say, "That was vegan ice cream; I only eat vegan food." Or I could make that statement more powerful in a social justice way by saying, "That was cruelty-free ice cream; I only eat cruelty-free food", bluntly making them realize (if they hadn't realized already) that ice cream is derived from cruelty.
See what I mean?
We animal rights activists really should stop using--or at least minimize using--the word vegan. Vegan is a pretty word, but it lacks defined power. As a social justice cause, using words that defend animals should be as powerful as possible to make it perfectly clear what this social justice movement is all about.
