22 November 2008
Vegans okay with meat lovers
17 August 2007
By Sarah Gooding: Te Waha Nui Online
The vegan community has rejected recent claims of rampant “vegansexualism” in New Zealand made by Canterbury University lecturer Annie Potts.
The editor of vegan.org.nz, John Livesey, says the term Potts coined, based on her research into the lives of “cruelty-free consumers”, is an enormous generalisation.
“The worldwide media interest in Annie’s supposed discovery of ‘vegansexuals’ says more about humanity’s abiding interest in sexual gossip than about any major sociological changes in society,” Livesey says.
Veganism is an extreme lifestyle choice already, so the fact that vegans may only want to form relationships with others who share the same viewpoint is understandable, he says.
According to Livesey, this is an established part of many vegans’ culture, despite Potts’ claims that she had “not come across it before”.
Online uproar
An online uproar about the research has seen vegans and their supporters lash out against the comments.
One posting made on salon.com read: “It makes sense that they would have trouble developing a relationship with people who don’t share their values. . . Even without a silly label like ‘vegansexual’, I’d expect like to gravitate towards like.”
Livesey says Potts’ comments are unfounded, that “just six of her 157 subjects mentioned a sexual preference for non-meat eaters, and only three of the five were actually vegan”.
He described it as a “storm in a teacup”.
Finding a partner is hard enough, he says, without having to specify that they be vegan.
Livesey cites Alex Jamieson, a vegan chef married to “omnivore Morgan Spurlock of Supersize Me fame”, as a prominent example of this culture-clash working in marriage.
He says “vegansexualism” is a luxury not many can afford. “‘Vegansexualism’ is only a lifestyle choice for those lucky enough to find another compatible vegan - life might be rather lonely otherwise.”
