Monday, February 22, 2010

Vegans only?

Recently there has been some buzz about vegans only dating other vegans, versus dating omnivores. This was a pretty funny topic, until it became apparent that some within the vegan community take this quite seriously. Thought being that to truly be a vegan you must only date other vegans.

What is the reality of only dating other vegans? With vegans accounting for only one percent of the general population it is not highly likely. Most people cannot explain what causes or does not cause an attraction between two people. Common shared interests are often a factor, but then again opposites often do attract as well. The choice to be a vegan is very personal. You cannot force this life style choice upon anyone. Often what has seemed to have happened over an extended period of time is that the vegan partner will slowly convert the omnivore over to their way of thinking. Most long-term vegans have become accustom to the idea of explaining the benefits of living a vegan life style. The benefits vegans create by not exploiting animals. How veganism improves the environment and the individual health benefits.

Ultimately dietary choices of who you date are not as important as helping others understand the importance of the vegan lifestyle. If the relationship is with the right partner they will respect and seek to understand what it means to be vegan. This is not to say that a either will be converting one from being an omnivore to a vegan, or a vegan to an omnivore lifestyle as relationships are not about changing one another but growing together.

2 comments:

  1. I've seen long-term vegans coerced and threatened by "loved ones" into eating meat again. Seldom the other way.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Really? I have seen it work the other way around. If you are coerced, it is really because that is what you want.

    ReplyDelete