i am a vegan Archives | Vegan Warrior Princesses Attack!

I’m An African, Atheist, Asexual Vegan

Posted on October 1, 2018 by Nichole

I’m an African, atheist, asexual vegan. These four words usually never go together — atheism and Africa don’t really mix, and most people think being vegan is fundamentally unAfrican. And as far as being asexual, most people think we don’t even really exist.

I came to all of these identities differently, but fundamentally, it’s the same thing that started me down on the path, and that is the fact that I’ve never been one to subscribe to any belief system simply because it’s what I was taught. I’ve always had a hard time with people doing and believing things because it’s “what they were taught”.

I was born in Ghana to Ghanaian parents. Although I didn’t grow up in Ghana, it was always instilled in me that that was where I was from, my “home”. Being African is what led me to reject my Christian upbringing: why should I subscribe to a religion that I believed in simply because it was imposed on my ancestors by colonial powers? Why should I believe in it because my parents imposed it on me, when its tenets do not resonate with me? […]

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I’m A Recovering, Vegan Horse Mom

Posted on August 11, 2017 by Nichole

I’ve been vegan for about four years. And it’s been a constantly changing process- while there are those who would dispute the label vegan, I’ve held onto it and my views of animal product consumption during hospital stays with NG tubes “dripping” milk-based Ensure into my stomach. During residential treatment stays where my sheets labeled me as “vegetarian”, because the complexity of feeding 10-20 preteens, teens, and adults with wide varieties of eating disorders ruled out the option of making vegan options available. Because whenever the choice remained, the choice would be vegan.

Mental and physical health professionals were all pretty quick to shake their heads at me, challenge me that there was just no way “vegan” wasn’t another word for disordered food restriction. […]

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I am a Vegan Wanderer

Posted on July 28, 2017 by Nichole

Heya, I’m Calen. To start off, I identify with a few different words: vegan, activist, queer, wanderer, traveler, femme, and writer… to name a few. These words/ideas seem to be the ones that mold my experience so actively.

I’m currently sitting in a café (mostly plant-based, woot woot!) in Las Vegas as I write this. Do I live here? No. Where do I live? To tell you the truth, I don’t know anymore!

Last year, I took a trip across the U.S., bike touring and making my way from Virginia to Hawaii, with almost no money. I say “almost” because as I was leaving for my adventure, my loving mother pulled out her strict “scary” voice and told me that I had no choice but to take the gift card that she was about to give me. I kept it with me to use when I felt like coming back home, but I ended up spending it when I crashed my bike down a hill and wrecked it into a tree. Other than that, I worked for things that I needed, including food and cash for transportation at times. And yes, I ate plant-based and continued my veganism the whole time! Even through the dumpster diving and working for food. […]

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I am a Vegan Urbanist

Posted on July 7, 2017 by Nichole

My name is Megan, and I am an unapologetic contradiction.

I am a passionate, nature-loving environmentalist and an equally zealous urban explorer. I’m a metropolitan hippie, a rare but emerging breed. I’m also a vegan (I’ve been veg since 2002), for many of the same reasons as I’m a crunchy urbanite: I have compassion for my fellow earthlings and the communities we form, and I am so enamored by our mother, Gaia. […]

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I Am a Vegan Fashion Designer

Posted on January 27, 2017 by Nichole

Hello, fellow Vegan Warriors! My name is Hannah, and I am 28 years old. I live in the UK with my two dogs, Sylvia and Elsie. I have been vegan for two years. Previous to that, I was vegetarian for 14 years. I am sure many of you here had a similar journey. I wanted to stop eating meat for as long as I can remember. My Dad wouldn’t let me become vegetarian as a child as he felt I would lack nutrients (same old story!). I finally managed to convince him when I was 12 years old. I have tried to discover why I was so compassionate towards animals from such a young age, but my parents can’t pinpoint a particular reason. I think it must be a combination of my Dad’s ambition and my Mum’s kindness. It made me a very determined person. Thankfully my Dad is completely supportive of my decisions now! […]

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I Am A Vegan Writer and Dad

Posted on August 12, 2016 by Nichole

First up, the reason I mentioned that I’m a dad is that, from looking around vegan websites (this “I am a Vegan” section included), you might be led to believe that all vegans are female. The reasons behind this phenomenon are probably complex and multi-layered, but, if I were a betting chap, I’d wager it’s something to do with old-fashioned mainstream toxic masculinity, the idea that men aren’t allowed to have empathy, or kindness, or that being uncruel to animals is somehow going to “turn you gay/female/soft”, or some horrible nonsense like that. (Mainstream hetero ideas of manliness really are pretty daft, on the whole. I could easily go into a whole ranting essay about why it makes more biological sense for the gender who has dangly genitals to wear skirts than for the gender who have nice neat tucked away netherbits, but I won’t. Goodness knows anyone who knows me has already heard enough about that particular topic.) Anyway, thought I’d hit that issue on the head straight off the bat: believe it or not, the amount you respect the welfare of other beings doesn’t actually have any relationship to your gender, sexuality, strength, or anything else. Indeed, if anything, you actually have to be a stronger person to choose animal welfare over the lazy ease of conformist corpse-eating! […]

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I Am A Vegan Cosplayer

Posted on May 27, 2016 by Nichole

Hello everyone! My name is Rose, but many know me as “That Vegan Cosplayer”. Before I get into what being a vegan cosplayer means, I guess I’ll go into a little bit of my background so people can see how the dots were connected throughout my life.

Ever since I could pick up a pencil, I delved into all forms of art. While my main go-to’s are drawing and writing, I also paint, craft and sew. I’ve always aced all art courses taken in K through 12, did art courses on the side (like watercolor courses for five years) and majored in Studio Art at Cal State Long Beach. I was always known as a great artist, along with being very creative throughout my life.

Aside from my artistic nature, I’ve always been known as a compassionate animal lover. My parents and family always noted how good I was with animals ever since I was a child. I stood up for them ever since I was little, even stopping other kids from stepping needlessly on insects. At age 13, my brother and friend showed me video footage from slaughterhouses, and I pretty much instantly went vegetarian. How could I have eaten animals all my life and called myself an animal lover? As I grow older, my knowledge expanded further and further into animal rights […]

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I Am A Vegan Bodybuilder

Posted on May 20, 2016 by Nichole

In 2012 I decided to take part in a fitness model competition at a local expo. To do this I decided I would need two things; a book and ethics. I found Vegan Bodybuilding and Fitness by Robert Cheeke. In those pages I found inspiration to GO VEGAN and never look back.

My journey began as an eleven year old child that chose to be a vegetarian since I wanted to be just like my big sister. I spent most of my life as an ethical vegetarian. I refrained from using leather and products tested on animals whenever possible. Admittedly I was not perfect and often I would find horrible products in my possession!

When I was 20 I met the first ever ‘vegan’. I didn’t understand the difference between vegan and vegetarian. And while she attempted to educate me I was not at all ready to take on any new lifestyle. From the ages of 20-29 I lived as a ‘flexitarian’. Sometimes I was a strict vegetarian, other times I would eat some animals. I was all over the show, paying more attention to being a young adult than my ethics. […]

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I Am A Vegan Student

Posted on May 13, 2016 by Nichole

…& Soon-to-Be Physical Therapist!

Hello! I’m Sarah, and I will be graduating with my Doctorate in Physical Therapy in May. I went vegetarian in November of 2012, and made the transition to veganism in October of 2013. It’s been a long journey, difficult at times and joyful during others. I am still learning new things every single day! Many people think that being vegan as a college student is too difficult or expensive, but I have been able to make it work, and will continue to make it work because of the important place animals, the planet, and my health have in my life now.

When I started college back in 2010, I began to develop an interest in health & fitness. I truly knew nothing about the most effective way to live a healthy life, and totally gained the Freshman 15. I was very discouraged, and finally decided that I needed to take control over my health. This realization led me to watch several documentaries on the healthcare system and the food industry. What I learned was shocking and overwhelming, but I decided to take action instead of sitting back and doing nothing. […]

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I Am A Fat Vegan

Posted on May 6, 2016 by Nichole

I feel like fat vegan voices are definitely marginalised within the vegan community. So much of the rhetoric revolves around clean eating or the health benefits of veganism. Fat vegans are so often seen as Bad Vegans, and unapologetic fat people are so often seen as Bad Fat People! Body shaming and health policing are still very common in the vegan community.

I’ve been vegan for around 8 years. I’ve been fat since I was a teenager. I struggled for nearly 3 decades with negative self-image, and was sucked wholly into diet culture for at least 15 years. Veganism eventually introduced me to some totally amazing concepts: eco-feminism, intersectional politics, body positivity and fat positivity. I read about the Health At Every Size movement, and immersed myself in fat-positive images and messages on social media. […]

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