fuck yeah fat vegans!

“reason #8769876978 that you can be a fat vegan!!!

our friend brings me a vegan cupcake at least once a week from his work. 

(this is my second one this week and it’s only tuesday whoops)”

another submission to our service animal conversation from someone requesting anon: “hi! i’m a fellow vegan and also a service dog handler (i’d like to stay anon!) i just wanted to point out that any handler worth their salt will never work a dog who doesn’t enjoy it. my first service dog went on to live a life of luxury as a pet because she told me she didn’t want to work, and the moment i thought she wasn’t happy, that was it. my dog in training right now is pumped up the second he sees his vest - he loves it, and if he ever showed us he wasn’t, that would be the end of it.”

i’m glad to hear that you listen to and respect the animals you train to the best of your ability. i would imagine a service animal would need to enjoy the job or wouldn’t do it, unlike animals used for labor who are often physically punished into doing their jobs and have to be “broken” before they can be trained. i still believe that nonhuman animals are not here for human use, even to the point that i feel conflicted about having animal companions of my own. my cats were both rescues, and i try my best to give them a good life and they’re required to do almost nothing to receive this treatment, but the fact that i have the power to make their lives miserable—even accidentally—scares me and makes me worry. i think my relationship with my cats is fairly mutually loving and respectful (to the degree that cats respect anyone), but they didn’t choose to live with me, they can’t choose where we live, what they eat, when they go in and out, when and if they receive health care, etc. in that way, i exercise enormous human privilege over them, and i try to be aware of it and not exploit it for my own pleasure/gain/needs. i guess this is what i’ve been trying to articulate about animals not being here for humans. i would never advocate taking all service animals/companion animals away from people right now, but i would feel deep joy if there was assistive technology that people could begin using that would do some of that labor without exploiting anyone. machines can’t do that emotional labor, though, and i don’t know if there will ever be a way to have a companion animal that is free from that privilege/power dynamic.

a person who asked to remain anon on our conversation about service animals: “For the service dog question: I have friends who would be dead if not for their service dogs. Service animals seem to be treated extremely well and it is not the same as the type of service that work horses provide. It isn’t our place as people without experience working with the handlers and their animals, or those who train service animals, or the people whose lives would be affected. Don’t equate service provision with cruelty without the participation of people who know.”

this is why i want to be careful with our conversation because theoretical pondering can quickly lead to making ignorant statements about people’s experiences. i still stand behind my statement that i don’t believe that other animals should have to serve humans—not because it’s necessarily cruelty, but because they’re sentient beings who haven’t consented to being put into a life of labor—but i also don’t believe that i get to make decisions for people with disabilities that i don’t have.

an answer we got in the assistive animal conversation from someone who wants to stay anonymous: “there’s not just one vet with PTSD and dogs that help them there are like… hundreds. as well as people with PTSD from sexual trauma. i do think people should be EXTREMELY cautious of what they say in this conversation. unless you have a disability, specifically blindness, this is very uncomfortable territory i think. especially since most people with blindness can’t even participate in this thread… there’s a reason for the phrase nothing about us without us.”

i strongly agree about being cautious with our conversation, specifically speaking for folks with disabilities. i work in mental health and live with a mental health disability and i know personally and professionally how therapeutic animal companions can be. i also feel extremely conflicted about this.

As promised…

Here is a pic of me with some of my giveaway goodies.  Sorry it’s a shitty web cam pic.  Enjoy my face and some of my fat, tattooed sexiness.  Thank you again for all the stuff!  This is best blog and I am so happy to be a fat vegan with all of you.  <3

This unflattering gif of June “Mama” Shannon, Alaina “Honey Boo Boo Child” Thompson’s mom from the show Here Comes Honey Boo Boo, was submitted to us 18 times today. I assume that this was supposed to be offensive and that it was from a troll (account imsovegan who submitted it doesn’t exist). However, this classist, fat-phobic attempt at trolling has failed because Mama is awesome and I appreciate being reminded of her. She’s a strong, hilarious woman who knows what she wants and goes after it. She’s loving and kind to her kids, and supports them in what they’re passionate about. She loves her body and is proud of herself as a person. She knows she’s beautiful and she tells the world. She’s also realistic about the fact that she’s not perfect and doesn’t try to be. 

p.s. I thought that it was important to put her name in this post because it was dehumanizing to submit a disembodied head with no name. She a person, not an object to use.