From Decartes to Dawkins, there is a long and dangerous history of philosophers using their powerful minds to theorize about the pain that humans and animals experience. The princesses call for us to all check ourselves when evaluating the experiences and pain of others.

In This Episode

Content Warning: the main topic includes mentions of pedophilia, rape, abuse, and child neglect.

Prompted by the scandal around Richard Dawkin’s interview and subsequent tweets (see links below) about the “mild pedophelia” he experienced and how he ranks different types of pedophilia and rape as lesser or worse, Nichole wanted to have a chat about the dangers of philosophizing the pain and experiences of others.

The girls talk about a very wide range of things, including people who are One-Uppers and the incredible harm caused by ranking different types of abuse.

Links and Information

News

* Spain’s Animal-Rights Party Wins Record Amount of Votes (VegNews)

* Leonardo DiCaprio to Rally for Beef Ban (VegNews)

* 5 Things To Consider About The Supreme Court’s Decision On Texas Abortion Law (NPR)

Mentioned in this Episode

* Animals and Ethics (Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy)

* Richard Dawkins Pedophilia Remarks Provoke Outrage (Huffington Post)

* Thank Goodness Richard Dawkins Has Finally Mansplained Rape (Jezebel)

Non-vegan treats, public proposals and birthday parties – sometimes, surprises suck! The princesses discuss surprises as they relate to consent culture and veganism.

In This Episode

In the United States, surprises are seen as the ultimate way someone can express their love or affection for someone. But are they really? Surprises, by their very definition, remove the surprisee’s ability to consent. Additionally, because of the culture around surprises, it’s seen as rude, arrogant or even mean to refuse or decline a surprise. If we’re being honest, we can see that most surprises are more about making the surpriser feel good.

Vegans deal with this a lot when family members decide to surprise them with treats or food that’s non-vegan, and then get mad or insulted when their food is declined. We also talk about engagement rings, proposals, and a whole lot more!

Links and Information

News

* Aquarium to Build New Sanctuary, Release Dolphins (VegNews)

* Corn Could Be Key to Making Gluten-Free Foods Taste Better (VegNews)

* Volvo Creates Anti-Roadkill Technology (VegNews)

Today we’re talking about Highly Sensitive People, or HSPs, and how being highly sensitive relates to being vegan and an activist. We talk about what an HSP is, how to tell if you are one, how to take pride in being an HSP, and lots of self-care tips for the highly sensitive among us.

In This Episode

What is HSP?

A “highly sensitive person” is a phrase coined in the 1990s by psychologists Elaine and Arthur Aron, and it is someone with sensory-processing sensitivity. It is an innate trait that has evolved in 15-20% of the human population, and is present in over 100 species of animals, including fruit flies, cats, dogs, horses, birds and fish. It is a survival trait that allows this segment of population to take in more stimuli and process it more thoroughly than others do. Think of a herd of prey animals, say like deer or antelope. The few that raise their heads and start running first, or sound the alarm, before the others are aware there is a threat are the highly sensitive ones. This has an obvious survival advantage in groups, but would not be useful for the entire population to have. It is NOT a condition, disease, or disadvantage. It’s a neutral trait

Because we are hardwired to take in more stimuli, HSPs are easily overstimulated and overwhelmed, particularly by being in a world that caters to the 80-85% of non-HSP people, a world that favors big bold personalities, loud music, strong smells, and large crowds.

Because HSPs process such subtlety and nuance, they experience the actual emotions of the person they are talking to or the movie they are watching, causing them to be seen as overly emotional or “too sensitive” to many. They also tend to take things personally, and can be seen as emotionally overr-eactive, or overanalyzers, or too defensive. It usually takes them a long time to make decisions because they are processing information and considering all angles

Fun fact: ALL creative people, including all famous artists, musicians, etc., are highly sensitive, although not all HSPs are creative.

Some HSPs, up to 30%, are extroverts and/or sensation seekers. Just like being an introvert, which most HSPs are, being an HSP does not necessarily mean that you are shy, isolated or quiet.

In the U.S. where extrovert is king, being an HSP is highly undervalued, particularly in cisgender men, which causes a lot of HSPs in the U.S. to have low self-esteem. I read somewhere that I couldn’t seem to find a link to that a lot of Asian countries have a higher percentage of HSPs, up to 30%. Some cultures, like in Thailand, for instance, respect sensitivity in people and actually choose leaders for their sensitive traits. So being sensitive is not a universally discriminated trait.

Resources:

* The Highly Sensitive Person (HSPerson)

* Are You Too Sensitive? (WebMD)

* Sensory-Processing Disorder vs Sensory-Processing Sensitivity (HSPerson)

Signs you are HSP

– Easily overwhelmed by strong sensory input

– Aware of subtleties in your environment and appreciate delicate or fine things

– Other people’s moods affect you

– Sensitive to pain and resistant to pain killers

– Sensitive to caffeine or other stimulants

– On busy days, you may seek a dark, quiet room to be away from stimulation and alone

– You are deeply moved by arts or music

– You have a rich, complex inner life

– You may get rattled by having a lot to do in a short amount of time

– You are conscientious and always conscious of the comfort of others, polite/considerate

The princesses are having a hard time with the Orlando shooting tragedy, as well as other recent tragedies, feeling like it’s all too much. This is a raw, unstructured episode, just us talking about pain and frustration and feeling helpless.

In This Episode

Nichole and Callie, are feeling overwhelmed, depressed and hopeless due to recent tragedies in the news. They have a loose, emotional discussion about these feelings, trying to process them with the audience, hopefully putting a voice to some feelings that we are all having.

News Links & Resources

Harambe

* Harambe the gorilla dies, meat-eaters grieve (LA Times)

* Extended video of Harambe shows gorilla holding the boy’s hand (Daily Mail)

Brock Turner Rape Case

* Court Papers Give Insight Into Standford Sex Assault (NY Times): This is a very thorough account of the entire case, the incident, and then details proof of a history of disturbing behavior by Brock Turner and direct refutes to claims made in his statement to the judge.

* Brock Turner Will Only Serve 3 Months of His 6-Month Sentence for Sexual Assault (Mic)

* WATCH: CNN anchor reads gut-wrenching letter from Stanford rape survivor on air (Salon)

Letters/Statements to Judge

* Rape Victim to Brock Turner (Buzzfeed)

* From Victim’s Sister (Huffington Post)

*

We’re talking about labels again! Today the princesses chat about labels and how they relate to identity: why we use them, why we don’t, and the power of reclaiming them.

In This Episode

We broke this talk into three sections:

Why choose to use a label?

* Labels can help you figure out who you are (especially if you are going through changes)

* They don’t have to be concrete, just because you use a label doesn’t mean you are committed for life

* Builds strength & character

* You don’t necessarily want to use them lightly, but also don’t stress too much about being perfect first

* Labels can help you feel connected to others especially if the direction you’re headed isn’t A “popular” one

Why do some choose not to use labels?

* Worried about alienating people

* Feel they haven’t “earned it yet”

* See others getting ripped to shreds over not doing it right

The power of labels & reclaiming them

* Labels can be for ourselves, yet it’s common for other people to take them over/taint them

* Taking over or turning labels into something gross is a tactic, (if we are comfortable) we shouldn’t let other dictate what a label means (e.g., feminism)

* Callie tells a work story

Cykochik giveaway!!!

Giveaway details:

• One original black and white The Humane League embroidered vegan leather wristlet:

• Open to US residents only, 18+ years of age

• Cykochik will select a random winner and VWPA will announce it

• Cykochik will send the winner’s prize

How to enter:

• To enter, go to: Cykochik VWPA Giveaway Page

About Cykochik:

Cykochik is the first fashion brand to collaborate with The Humane League in creating a cruelty-free vegan handbag collection! We are an official year-round partner of The Humane League, working together to create a more compassionate world for all living beings through our food and fashion choices. Cykochik donates 10% of profits from the sales of the The Humane League Cause Collection to support The Humane League’s work for farm animals!

Links and Information

* Why So Many Israeli Soldiers are Going Vegan (NPR)

* U.S. Bans Commercial Trade of African Elephant Ivory (NY Times)

Media is a powerful thing. It can create a new normal for us, or reinforce harmful stereotypes. As consumers, it’s important for us to demand better representation of different cultures, colors, genders and for animals in our mainstream media. The princesses also react to the killing of silverback gorilla Harambe’s at the Cincinnati Zoo.

In This Episode

After reading an article about a study that proved racial bias prevents empathy between people of different colors, Nichole got to thinking about how a lack of representation in movies and TV prevents people from finding empathy with each other, and also with animals. She also is fired up about the recent scandal around Paramount Pictures casting Scarlett Johansson as the lead in Ghost in the Shell, an anime series from Japan.

They talk about Hollywood’s tendency to whitewash movies, as well as the use of animals as expendable objects in media, and how we need to boycott and protest these hurtful, ridiculous practices.

We need to see people and animals shown in media in ways that increase empathy, and also just get us to see that we’re all the same: living beings who crave connection.

Links and Information

News

* China Just Said What the U.S. Never Has: Eat Less Meat (Grist)

* Agave Silk: A Cruelty Vegetable Silk Made from Cactus (Ecouterre)

* Animal Behavior Expert Says Silverback Gorilla Harambe Was Not Trying to Harm Defenseless Child (Daily Telegraph)

Mentioned in this Episode

* Racial Bias and the Ability to Feel Others’ Pain (Racism Review)

* Christopher Sebastian’s thoughts on zoos (Facebook)

* Christopher Sebastian on Ota Benga and zoos as prisons (Facebook)

* Awesome, insightful critical analysis of Star Wars – how it always boils down to two white dudes working out their feelings (The New Inquiry)

Responses to Paramount’s Casting of Scarlett Johansson as Major Motoko Kunasagi in Ghost in the Shell Remake

* Asian American Actors Are Fighting for Visibility: They Will Not Be Ignored (NY Times)

The princesses recently attended a panel in San Diego focused on debating if we should eat meat or not and were appalled by the level of colonization-minded comments, classism and fragmentation coming from the vegan panelists as much, if not more so, than the pro-meat consumption panelists. To address this, they break down examples of each one, and give resources to where you can get a primer on each one.

In This Episode

We are new to some of these concepts, so we tried to tread lightly and we strongly encourage everyone to personally watch/read the resources listed below to start learning for themselves if these concepts are new to you as well. However, despite not having it all figured out yet, we couldn’t not say something after watching in horror as a panel on meat consumption, grossly titled Meaty Issues: Meat – Friend or Foe?, turned into social justice nightmare with some of the vegan panelists being the worst perpetrators of promoting a colonization mentality, classist bigotry, and the objectification and fragmentation of animals.

Before we moved on, we took a minute to acknowledge two people who have helped us tremendously in our continuing journey to being more aware and better activists: Dr. A. Breeze Harper and Christopher-Sebastian McJetters.

Dr. Harper’s Uprooting White Fragility lecture from the Interspecies & Intersectionality Justice Conference gave Nichole the courage to speak up when she sees something wrong and to stop apologizing or worrying about making members of the dominant power uncomfortable.

Christopher-Sebastian’s ongoing published work as well as his amazing Facebook posts gave Callie the ability to see the truth behind what people are saying, to see the underlying issues in many common narratives.

Colonization

Colonization is an ongoing process of control by which a central system of power dominates the surrounding land, its animals and its people. Side effects of colonization include the mentality that people of color or people indigenous to a region don’t know how to manage their own lands, or need to be told the “right” way to live or do things by white people.

We saw this modeled in the panel when Aaron Gross of Farm Forward described going to India to try to convert the people to vegetarianism or veganism, with no awareness of the fact that veganism and plant-based eating originated in India. He also used the fact that the people in India did not bring up classism or racism to him as proof that his actions are valid, not realizing or paying credence to the fact that people who have been colonized learn to not speak up to people who belong to the dominate power.

Resource: Colonization and Animals by Zarna Joshi (YouTube video)

Classism

Prejudice against or in favor of people belonging to a particular social class. The panel seemed wholly unaware that their insistence on grass fed beef, organic produce, and purchasing all food locally as a solution to all food-system ills was incredibly ostracizing to people of low or no resources. It seemed all the ills of the food system were blamed on those who can’t afford the “good” food, and there were many assumptions made about how educated, intelligent and what color those particular people might be.

strong>Objectification and Fragmentation

The process or state of breaking or being broken into small or separate parts. Carol J Adams describes this as one part of a three...

There are some tricky items up for debate in the vegan community: palm oil, sugar, honey and horseback riding. The girls talk about why these things may not be considered vegan, along with why wool and silk are not vegan.

In This Episode

Content warning: talk of animal experimentation, exploitation and cruelty

Meat, leather, dairy – these things are obviously not vegan. But there are other things that are not so much so; things that are sometimes even contested within the vegan community. The princesses tackle six of these topics to help vegans make informed decisions for themselves and to have conversations about these things with others:

Silk

– “Silk fabric is made from the silk that is spun by silkworms when they form the cocoons for their pupal stage, before becoming a moth.”

– Since silk is an animal product, and causes exploitation, silk isn’t vegan.

– Most silk is mass produced, from farms with domesticated silkworms.

– “The silk is secreted as a liquid from two glands in the caterpillar’s head. While they are still in their pupal stage, the cocoons are placed in boiling water, which kills the silkworms and begins the process of unraveling the cocoons to produce silk thread. If allowed to develop and live, the silkworms would turn into moths and chew their way out of the cocoons to escape.”

– Silk can be produced “more humanely” by not killing the caterpillar, and allowing it to chew through the cocoon the way it would naturally, but this damages the silk strands and yields less silk so this method isn’t used very as often.

– Approximately 15 silkworms are killed to make a gram of silk thread, and 10,000 are killed to make a silk sari.

Resources

Why Vegans Don’t Wear Silk (AnimalRights.about.com)

Honey

– Bees are animals

* Honeybees have been shown to have emotions, are cognitively sophisticated

* Honeybees and vertebrates share common neurological traits, pessimism

– Honey and pollen are for the bees to eat during winter months

– Commercial beekeeping is basically factory farming for bees

* Bees are fed high fructose corn syrup since honey is stolen

* Administer antibiotics whether bees are sick or not

* Queens artificially inseminated with a syringe, wings clipped; Drones are crushed to inseminate queen

* Inbred for gentleness and productivity, leading to genetic deficiencies

* Some beekeepers will burn or destroy hives and bees in winter, as it’s cheaper than keeping them alive

– During harvesting & collection, bees are injured, crushed or killed, no matter how gentle the handler is

– Honey is tested on animals

* In order to try to prove the healing effects of honey, animals are wounded and the wounds are treated with honey, dissection to determine effects of honey on bones and metabolism, and the removal of reproductive organs to test honey’s effects on hormonal profiles as it relates to menopause

Resources

If You Eat Honey, Read This (Your Daily Vegan)

Honeybees Might Have Emotions (Wired Magazine)

Sugar

– Refined sugar comes from either Sugarcane plants or from Beet plants

– The sugars are very similar so it’s impossible to tell the difference between the two after they are processed

– Beet sugar is not processed using Bone Char so it is vegan

The princesses tackle the Cafe Gratitude scandal, trying to bring some calm and rationality into the conversation after being disappointed with the vitriol they were seeing online.

In This Episode

Nichole and Callie were hesitant to weigh in on the Cafe Gratitude scandal, but after seeing so many vegans calling for blood they felt it was important to step in with their unpopular opinion on the matter.

Though Cafe Gratitude announced well over a year ago, via a blog post, that the founders were “transitioning” from vegetarianism to raising, slaughtering, and eating animals on their farm; everyone seems to have just heard about it and is calling for boycotts, ostracization and even violence.

While the girls understand the intense disappointment and disgust with the founders, they don’t think it wise for the vegan communities reaction to such matters to be intense hatred and calls for punishment. We see this mirrored in so many other ways in our society – from shaming drug addicts to assuming everyone in prison is guilty and worthless – that it’s an impulse that Nichole and Callie feel should go away. We need to find compassion and rationality, even in the face of such a sad and awful announcement.

The princesses also make the point that calling for boycotts and the closure of the restaurant will lead to a significant increase in non-vegan meals being consumed by the general public. Many patrons of Cafe Gratitude and Gracias Madre are not vegan, and would simply end up eating somewhere with animal products, thus supporting a business that serves animal products regularly, unlike CF and GM, which do not.

With the furious reaction, we are also confusing the rest of the world about our motivations, as highlighted by the L.A. Times article titled, Cafe Gratitude: Why are L.A. vegans eating their own? Carnists won’t understand the fury and it makes it seem like dipping your toes into veganism is to step into a minefield.

This is not an easy topic and it was not an easy one to talk about. We did our best and are very very very encouraging and welcoming of respectful discussions around this issue.

Links and Information

News

* HSUS President Talks Veganism with Bill Maher (VegNews)

* 10 New “Hipster” Whole Foods Locations Announced (VegNews)

* The Humane League Launches ‘Fast Action’ Network! (The Humane League)

T.O.F.U. Magazine Call For Submissions!

The eleventh issue of T.O.F.U. will focus on the topic of veganism and physical health. Going beyond the facade that veganism is the path to perfection, the issue hopes to provide a space for people to talk about their battles with declining health, chronic illness, and disease while maintaining (or questioning the end of) a vegan diet. Ideally, this will then lead to dialogue regarding our relationships with food, and mental health (including disordered eating), in future issues.

As always, submissions don’t have to deal with the focus specifically. In fact, a number of submissions have already been made for the focus, so priority may be given to ideas that would fit better in the D.I.Y., Life, or Activism categories of the magazine.

Deadlines: May 16 for ideas,

The princesses talk to badass feminist trail-blazer Carol J Adams, author of The Sexual Politics of Meat, about everything feminist, from representations of women in media to transgender issues to the patriarchy of meat consumption. It’s an amazing conversation, one of our all-time favorite episodes!

Content Warning: brief discussions about rape and sexual violence, descriptions of violent imagery in ads and media

In This Episode

Nichole and Callie chat with Carol J. Adams about all things feminist in this incredible, free-flowing conversation. Among the many topics covered:

– Why she titled The Sexual Politics of Meat as a “feminist-vegetarian” critical theory instead of vegan

– An unbelievably articulate 10 minute overview of the last 40 years of feminism

– If she feels feminism has taken a step back in recent years

– Female representations in media

– How are transgender issues/politics applied to her arguments in The Sexual Politics of Meat?

– Relatedly, how can feminist conversations be more trans-inclusive

– How can we get feminist cirlces to be more open to discussions about veganism?

– What do you see for the future of feminism?

And much more. Carol J. Adams is as hilarious as she is intelligent, so come laugh and learn with us!

Carol J. Adams is an activist and author of several books and over 100 articles on the topics of vegetarianism and veganism, animal advocacy, domestic violence and sexual abuse, with a focus on the interconnections between forms of violence against human and nonhuman animals.

Adams’ first book, The Sexual Politics of Meat, first published in 1990, was the result of 15 years of contemplation. Considered a ground-breaking work, The Sexual Politics of Meat is an exploration of the interplay between contemporary society’s ingrained cultural misogyny and its obsession with meat and masculinity. Since then she’s gone on to publish many other books, including The Pornography of Meat and Neither Man nor Beast: Feminism and the Defense of Animals.

When she’s not blazing a trail for critical feminist theory, Adams enjoys cooking, sharing vegan food, and hanging out with her two rescue dogs, Holly and Inky.

Follow Carol J. Adams on: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

Links and Information

News

* Largest Producer in US Recalls 4.5 Million Pounds of Chicken (VegNews)

* Biggest Airlift in History Returns 33 Circus Lions to Africa (VegNews)

* New Vegan Consulting Firm Launches This Week (VegNews)

Mentioned in this Episode

* Susanne Kappeler: The Pornography of Representation, a book that re-examines the artistic distinctions between fantasy and reality, pornography and erotica.

* Catherine MacKinnon: MacKinnon’s work focuses on three, sometimes overlapping, areas of focus: sexual harassment, pornography and international work.

* Call for Submissions to Big Fat Vegan Zine!!!!