I’d like to get this point across. Last night I was visiting with my aunt, who is, next to my brother, my favorite relative. But things escape her. I knew it was a bad start when she asked me, “So, are you a strict vegan?” Uh, what do you mean? “Like, do you follow it exactly or do you sneak in a little milk here or there?” No. If I did that, I wouldn’t be a vegan. I’d be a vegetarian. I don’t know how many times I have to explain this to people (see the entry before last), but if you “cheat” or “sneak” or knowingly consume animal products, you aren’t a vegan. Please, don’t call yourself a vegan. It probably makes yourself feel cooler than you are (because you acknowledge the suffering and try to appear like you’re doing something about it… but you’re not!), plus it makes it hard for those of us who are vegan (not for a trend but for the ethics) and then have to explain to someone who had previously met a “vegan” who wasn’t really vegan.

Anyway. I keep going back to that topic but that’s because it keeps coming up. Onto other subjects… now, I said that I love my aunt. I do. But she’s a speciesist. A really big one. And some of the conversations last night just made me so angry (and she’s one of those people who, when she’s in the mood, just goes on talking and talking so you can’t counter her argument or tell her that it upsets you). First, she said how great it was that I was doing the fur protests and she’s against fur and will say something to someone on the street that’s wearing it. Great. Except that she wears leather. Why not one but the other’s fine? Because it was “cuter” in life?

Then, she went on to talk about her (deceased) husband’s family and how, being Portuguese, they always had rabbit at big dinners. Just sitting there, in the middle of the table, cooked with its head still attached and staring at you. And she would never eat it because it grossed her out. And they made the argument to her, “But you eat beef and chicken!” (exactly what I’m thinking, but with a different intent). She said that’s different. How? Well, first of all, she doesn’t kill it herself (and then proceeded to tell me how they killed the rabbits…), she just buys it from the supermarket already dead and cut up. So pretty much, she’s admitting that the removal of the killing aspect makes it okay to eat in her eyes. As long as it doesn’t resemble the living being that it previously was, she’s fine with it. Uh, that’s called denial. Her second argument? Chickens, cows, etc. are different than rabbits. How so? Aside from outer physical traits, I don’t see any difference. They’re all living beings with nerve endings, functioning organs, and a desire to live.

So I left my aunt’s house feeling considerably upset. Mind you, we talked about lots of other things that didn’t involve cruelty to animals, so it’s not like the whole night was horrible. Just, sometimes I wish people (especially those I’m closest to) would just open their fucking eyes instead of rolling them at me.