Vegan Warrior Princesses Attack!

There’s a lot of controversy around the need for trigger warnings and the use of the term “triggered.” The princesses talk about secondary traumatic stress disorder, or STSD, and how to use the word triggered in a way that respects people with PTSD.

Content Warning: discussion and details of misdemeanor sexual assault (minutes 33:50 – 41:50)

In This Episode

Callie and Nichole dig into triggers and trigger warnings after seeing a fellow vegan rant about a Huffington Post article where the author said she was triggered by watching people eat meat and so refuses to eat with anyone who won’t eat vegan with her. There is validity in discussing whether we are throwing terms like “triggered” around too lightly, however, there is also validity in being deeply upset by seeing others consume animal products. The princesses talk about how we can be respectful to both sides of this equation in our language.

Definitions

Trauma trigger (aka “trigger”): A trauma trigger is an experience that causes someone to recall a previous traumatic memory, although the trigger itself need not be frightening or traumatic and can be indirectly or superficially reminiscent an earlier traumatic incident.

STS: Secondary traumatic stress is the emotional duress that results when an individual hears about the firsthand trauma experiences of another. Its symptoms mimic those of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Links and Information

News

* Oprah Urges Her 33 Million Followers to Go Meatless (VegNews)

* Millennials Driving a Rise of Veganism (Seeker)

* New Research Tackles Carrageenan Safety Concerns (Food Navigator USA)

Mentioned in this Episode

* I Don’t Let Friends Eat Meat In My Presence (Huffington Post): the article that inspired the rant that inspired this episode.

* Secondary Traumatic Stress Disorder (Cruelty Free Eating): a helpful article discussing Melanie Joy’s YouTube video about STSD (video linked below)

* Melanie Joy – Sustainable activism: How to Be More Effective and Fulfilled (IARC 2015) (YouTube): Dr. Melanie Joy’s talk about STSD and veganism, and how to deal with STSD as an activist.

* Understanding Traumatic Triggers (National Center on Domestic Violence, Trauma & Mental Health)

* Scientific Studies: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO) (YouTube): talks about scientific studies, how they are misrepresented in mainstream media to become commonly accepted truths when they are not proven, inconclusive, biased or altogether untrue.

For our first live episode, we revisited (more) annoying questions vegans get from omnivores in front of an amazing audience at Animal Place’s Vegan Republic!

In This Episode

As a follow-up to our much beloved Annoying Questions episode, the princesses revisit everyone’s favorite ridiculous question – is sperm vegan? – and then move on to tackle new annoying queries:

* Is sperm vegan?

* Why aren’t you eating anything? (at a party/potluck)

* Why don’t you care about people?

* My friends went vegan and… (their tooth turned grey! Did your tooth turn grey?)

* Aren’t you ALWAYS hungry?

* Why be vegan if you still want “SAD” food? (food that mimics meat or animal products, junk food, etc.)

* What about indigenous people or people who eat animals to survive?

* What if you were stranded on a deserted island?

* So ahhhh… Are you eating meat these days? (Submitted by a 20 year veg who was asked this by her mom)

* Aren’t humans the top of the food chain?

* Oh your vegan? Don’t you fart a lot??

We had such a great time and give a huge THANK YOU! to Animal Place’s Vegan Republic who were not only kind enough to host us, but also have an amazing array of vegan items (we totally went on a shopping spree before our talk started!). Thank you as well to everyone who came out to see us, it was incredible getting to meet all of you face to face and laugh together!

The princesses had a lot of random shit to talk about this week, so we put it all together in a mixed bag episode! We announce a new advice segment on the show, each rant about something that’s pissing us off, announce upcoming travel and speaking events, go over a ton of news, and talk about the efficacy of telling non-vegans that they don’t love animals if they eat them.

In This Episode

Among the many topics covered today:

Advice

We announce the start of an advice segment on the show, and kick it off by answering listener Lexi’s question: “I’m a bridesmaid in my brother’s upcoming wedding, and I’m being told I have to pay $100 for food and snacks that day but it won’t be vegan and I can’t afford it anyway. What do I do!?”

Rants

Nichole rages about Vita Coco’s body-shaming lies on the side of their coconut water containers; Callie rails about dudes on OK Cupid messaging her when they are like a 30% match and have hella serious conflicts in morals.

Upcoming Travel/Events

* August 26 (Friday) – Animal Place’s Vegan Republic: We’ll be doing a live, updated version of our Annoying Questions episode from 6-8pm.

* September 10 (Saturday) – Salt Lake City VegFest: We’ll be tabling with Jeremy and Jordan from Which Side Podcast, and doing a presentation with them.

* October 22-23 (Saturday & Sunday) – VegFest UK in London: We’ll be attending VegFest in London, we are so excited! We’ll be creating a meet and greet event in London soon!

* October 24 (Sunday) – Pro-Intersectional Vegan Conference: We’ll be attending this conference in London and hopefully meeting all the people we respect and admire so much!

We’ll be creating meet and greet events around this travel, watch for them on our Facebook page or join the VWPA Society to be kept in the loop!

Main Topic

The “main” topic of the day, if there really is one, is Nichole and Callie discussing the merits, if any, of telling non-vegans that they don’t really love animals if they eat meat. While we understand the sentiment, this tactic doesn’t serve much of a purpose and only serves to create a combative atmosphere between vegans and non-vegans, plus it greatly oversimplifies the complexities of human emotions.

Links and Information

News

* Gorillas Seen Dismantling Poachers’ Traps in the Wild for the First Time Ever (True Activist)

* Portland Vegan Dinner to Benefit Black Lives Matter (VegNews)

* Vegan Wins Gold Medal at World Surfing Games (VegNews)

* Ice Cream Shop Worker Creates Vegan Flavor (VegNews)

* Darden Restaurants Ripping Off Workers (US Uncut)

Today we’re talkin’ bout being an ally: the reality of what happens when you get educated and decide to use your privilege for good. An honest conversation about the realities of allyship and how to properly process difficult feelings.

In This Episode

Nichole and Callie have a frank discussion about what happens when you become an ally, particularly the tough things that come up or occur, the ways your life will change that will challenge you and your privilege, including:

* You will feel isolated

* You may lose relationships

* You WILL mess up, many times

* You will learn that people HATE you for your privilege, and you will not be able to change their minds (and you shouldn’t try!)

When we become allies, we feel like it’s inappropriate to complain or feel burdened by our new knowledge. And, in a lot of spaces, it is! But that doesn’t mean that the difficulties aren’t real. We just have to process our guilt and our discomfort in the appropriate ways. Some tips we give for processing properly as an ally include:

* Do not ever ever ever process AT the marginalized group you are trying to be an ally for, only process with people with your privilege

* Realize that your voice does not need to be heard in every conversation – leave it out of spaces made for people in the marginalized group(s)

* Consume media made by people of the marginalized group for the people in the marginalized group (and again, just consume, don’t comment!)

* Accept that you will always be a little “ist,” you grew up with privilege inside a system of oppression (or several) and that shit gets internalized DEEP. You will always be learning and discovering icky little things you have to seek out and destroy. This FUCKING SUCKS to admit, but it’s true and it will make a better ally if you own up to it.

Being an ally, like being vegan, is tough but critically important. Learning to be a good ally is just as tough and important. Step into this role knowing it’s going to be fucking hard, you will mess up, but that if you can learn to listen and grow, you will be ok.

Links and Information

News

* UN Expert Calls for Tax on Meat Production (The Guardian)

* PETA Warns Mexican US Border Crossers (PETA): FUCK PETA FOR REALZ

* NIH Announces Plans to Transfer Chimps from Laboratories to Sanctuaries (Humane Society)

* Italian Lawmaker Equates Vegan Diet with Child Abuse but Doctors and Dietitians Say it Can be Healthy (Forbes)

Ally Resources & Education

* The [White Savior] Elephant in the Room: Ally Theater, Savior Complex, and Speaking for ‘The Other’: a must-read for allies everywhere. Educate thyself!

Spoilers abound in today’s drunken review of The Matrix! Nichole and Callie sip on cocktails and philosophy while they break apart The Matrix from an intersectional, vegan viewpoint.

In This Episode

The princesses dig into all things Matrix in today’s episode, specifically focusing on race, gender and speciesism. This movie is one that is loved in vegan circles and for good reason: so many of the lines and themes in this movie relate well to “taking the red pill” and waking up to the nightmare that is our food system. Overall, the princesses were impressed with gender representation and the diversity of the cast, with some caveats. It’s a movie that holds up pretty well and one we highly recommend.

Favorite thought-provoking lines:

Morpheus

…there’s a difference between knowing the path, and walking the path.

Remember that all I am offering is the truth. Nothing more.

The Matrix is a system, Neo. That system is our enemy. But when you’re inside, you look around. What do you see. Business men, teachers, lawyers, carpenters. The very minds of the people we are trying to save. But until we do, these people are still a part of that system, and that makes them our enemy. You have to understand, most of these people are not ready to be unplugged. And many of them are so inert, so hopelessly dependent on the system that they will fight to protect it.

Were you listening to me Neo, or were you looking at the woman in the red dress?

Agent Smith

Once we began thinking for you, it became our civilization.

You are the plague, we are the cure.

I hate this place. This zoo, this prison, this…”reality”

Mouse

To deny our own impulses is to deny what makes us human.

Links and Information

News

* Forbes Answers the Call for a Humane Economy (VegNews)

* Only Male US Weightlifter in Olympics is Vegan (VegNews)

Related Information

* Director Spike Lee slams ‘same old’ black stereotypes in today’s films (Yale): Spike Lee talks about the problems with the “magical negro” in movies, an issue we noted with The Matrix.

* White savior narrative in film (Wikipedia): a definition of the white savior complex we spoke about on the show. This article lists The Matrix as an example of this, which is true, though we also don’t want to dismiss Keanu Reeve’s Chinese and Hawaiian heritage, we do acknowledge that he is white-presenting and his character Neo can certainly be seen as a white savior.

* Fluid Realities/Fluid Identities: Gender in the Matrix (Hannah Kuhlmann): in leanring that the Wachowski’s have since come out as trans women since they made The Matrix, Callie and Nichole tried to pay attention to themes of gender and identity in the movie, but this article does a much better, much more thorough job!

* Call Trans Opt: Transgender Themes in The Matrix (Ontological Geek): fascinating analysis of transgender themes in The Matrix.

As mentioned in episode #082 Knowing When to Walk Away, Callie and Nichole get personal and talk about their personal stories with abuse and whether they walked away or stayed and what the result was.

This episode is extra content that didn’t make it into the episode so it’s not super concise or well organized… But we are hoping that by sharing our deeply personal stories it may help someone who is or has gone similar situations.

To those that are or have dealt with abuse, our hearts go out to you! Please know that you are not alone, and though it may take time, healing is possible.

Thank you for letting us share <3

As a companion piece to our recent Having Hard Conversations episode, the princesses discuss knowing when it’s time to walk away from a relationship, be it romantic, friendship, familial, or work-related.

In This Episode

Callie and Nichole detail the different ways you can know that it may be time to walk away from relationships in your life:

* When you are in danger

* When your mental health is affected

* When you feel like you are forcing it

* When it takes over your life, there’s no balance

* When they don’t respect your ethics/boundaries

* When you bring out the worst in each other (or the relationship makes you less than you are)

* When you can’t talk to them about things that are important to you

Links and Information

News

* “Mark It Vegan” Campaign Seeks Clear Product Labeling (VegNews)

* The Walking Dead’s “Magic” Tiger Earns Vegan Award (VegNews)

Resources

* Staying Safe Information (WomensLaw.org): great tips on staying safe through all stages of an abusive relationship, from staying to leaving. Tips generally apply to all genders.

Callie and Nichole walk through their top tips for having hard conversations, useful for everything from breaking up to establishing vegan boundaries.

In This Episode

Nichole and Callie break down their 10 top tips for having effective, difficult conversations:

* Be clear and direct

* Keep it short and simple

* End the conversation, give the other person time to process

* Communicate in whatever medium works best for you

* Don’t try to change their mind or win the argument, just state specific needs

* Avoid “always” and “never” statements

* Use “I” framing versus “You” blaming

* Stick to the specific instance/topic at hand, don’t go angry wandering

* Don’t apologize for your feelings

* Recognize others’ feelings are valid

Links and Information

News

* North Dakota’s First Vegan Restaurant To Open (KVRR)

* Walmart Pilots “Ugly” Produce Program (VegNews)

We are fucking over the racism and sexism issues in the animal rights community, so we’re tearing into the 2016 Animal Rights Conference and call on the vegan community to boycott it until things get better.

In This Episode

In a nutshell: we call out all the issues with the Animal Rights conference and FARM’s founder Alex Hershaft while we drink bloody Mary’s and order pizza!

Links and Information

News

* Kat Von D to Reformulate Makeup Line to be 100% Vegan (VegNews)

* Vegan Burritos Feed LA’s Homeless (VegNews)

Mentioned in this Episode

* Awesome DJ Khaled Silk Commercial!!!

Vegans often approach activism from a “they just don’t know” perspective. But what happens when they do know, when they see the worst, and they still don’t care?

In This Episode

The princesses discuss what happens when people get desensitized to violence against animals. What does that mean for activism and the movement? A lot of vegans bank on the shock value of graphic imagery to sway people to the vegan side, but is it the most effective method?

There’s been a reaction from the meat-eating crowd: backyard slaughter workshops teach how to kill and “process” animals yourself as a counterpoint to the horror of what happens to animals in factory farms and slaughterhouses. This leaves us open to welfare-ist arguments and steers the conversation away from the ethics of eating animals.

Links and Information

News

* World’s hottest destinations for vegans (CNN)

* A Vegan Mars Possible After Scientist Grow Martian Tomatoes (VegNews)

* Brooklyn Startup Raises $40 Million to Make Vegan Leather (VegNews)

Mentioned in this Episode

* Do Vegans Need Graphic Images to Advocate – Episode 33 (The Bearded Vegans)