How Changing Our Language Can Change The Way The World Thinks About Animals

If you’re eyes are grazing this post you’ve probably heard the word “veganism” being tossed around before, and it’s likely that there is some confusion in the air. So, what is veganism? Is veganism a diet? And is being vegan and being vegetarian the same thing? Is vegetarianism even ethical?

In this article I’ll answer all of those questions and more. Once we lay down a base understanding of veganism, we will dive even deeper into the language that we use within the movement when discussing nonhuman animals and learn how we can use our language to work towards liberation.

Is Veganism A Diet?

To put it simply: no, veganism is not a diet. Veganism is a liberation movement that looks to reduce the amount of harm and suffering that we cause to all animals in this world, human or non, through food and lifestyle choices that exclude the use of animals.

People who practice veganism don’t eat the flesh of nonhuman animals, or consume anything stolen from nonhuman individuals; they don’t consume animal-based dairy products or eggs. They don’t wear leather, wool, or fur. They avoid products tested on animals. They avoid going to circuses, aquariums, rodeos, zoos, and other places of animal exploitation.

So while veganism itself is not a diet, it does ask us to change our diet to avoid supporting the domestication, confinement, torture, sexual violation, and ultimately slaughter of nonhuman animals. Animal abuse has been normalized by human supremacy and speciesism, so we must work to topple them both.

Is A Plant-Based Diet Vegan?

Another phrase that gets tossed around is “plant-based diet”. You may be wondering if it’s synonymous with “veganism”. Let’s take a moment to clear the air: the two things are not the same, but connected! While veganism refers to a consuming a 100% plant-based diet and considering, protecting, and respecting nonhuman animals in all aspects of life (as much as humanly possible), a plant-based diet is exactly that: a diet. There are no ethics attached to it, and people usually choose it for health reasons. Someone who considers themself “plant-based” may still consume animal bodies and secretions.

Is Vegan And Vegetarian The Same Thing?

Vegan and vegetarian are different. While vegans reject the use and abuse of animals as a whole, vegetarianism just rejects eating animals, but allows for consumption of dairy products like animal-based cheese, yogurt, and milk.

Is Vegetarianism Ethical?

Vegetarianism should be seen as a transitional phase or stepping stone to veganism. Many folks become vegetarian because they want to protect animals, failing to see that the dairy industry is a slaughter industry, and could be considered more cruel than the meat industry.

Let’s get one thing straight: cows do not make milk because “that’s what they’re here for”, or because they are milk machines. They make milk because they are mothers; on dairy farms cows are forcibly impregnated year after year so that they will begin lactating. Once they are lactating, humans can remove their babies from them and take the breastmilk for themselves to profit off of instead. Calves used by the dairy industry (on all dairy farms, large are small) are babies. They have mothers that care for them and feel a strong bond with them.

But in the eyes of the dairy industry, they are seen as “waste” and “trash”. It is obvious because most males in the dairy industry are discarded; their young bodies are to be used for “veal” or cheap “beef”because they cannot lactate and produce breast milk like females can. And before they are discarded, they are separated from their mothers, 97% of them just 24 hours after being born. Then, after living a short life of abuse and sexual violation, their mothers will be sent to the slaughterhouse as well.

You can learn the facts about the dairy industry in my thoughtful reflection that I wrote after investigating over a dozen so-called “humane” dairy farms.

The Way We Speak Influences The Way We Think

The language that we speak and use affects how we think and how we see the world, and it’s been proven time and time again. Leah Bornditsky, in the article How Language Shapes Thought, writes “But how do we know whether differences in language create differences in thought, or the other way around? The answer, it turns out, is both—the way we think influences the way we speak, but the influence also goes the other way.” She goes on to say that “The past decade has seen a host of ingenious demonstrations establishing that language indeed plays a causal role in shaping cognition. Studies have shown that changing how people talk changes how they think. Teaching people new color words, for instance, changes their ability to discriminate colors. And teaching people a new way of talking about time gives them a new way of thinking about it.”

I’ve seen this to be true in my own life; whenever I want to change a thought or an automatic thought pattern that I have about something, I make myself change my language about said thing first. Even though it can feel funny and forced, eventually it becomes habitual, and I can see my own thoughts and feelings in relation to the subject change as my language does. If you don’t believe me, try it out for yourself!

Using Our Language For Animal Liberation

Now let’s get down to the Beyond meat of it all. Here are some phrases and words that we as vegans and animal rights activists can use to push society forward in changing the way they view, think about, and talk about nonhuman animals.

“It” (when referring to a nonhuman animal) –> “He/She/They”

When people (even many vegans and sanctuary owners) discuss nonhuman companions or animals in general, they often refer to them as “it”. But in the English language, “it” signifies that something is lifeless or an object, like a toaster or a cellphone. Animals are sentient beings with personalities, feelings, families, and experience life similar to us. Referring to them as “it” allows them to continue being objectified, which is what happens when they go from being a living being to a ‘slab of meat’ on one’s plate. Use gender neutral pronouns such as they/them, or gendered pronouns like he/him or she/her instead.

“Farm animals” –> “Farmed animals”

When we are talking about animals who are exploited by animal agriculture we often refer to them as “farm animals”. But the truth is that these animals were not destined to live on a farm. Farming animals is a human concept and we just happened to choose animals such as chickens, cows, turkeys, pigs, and others to farm. So they are not inherently “farm animals”, but they are farmed by us. Referring to them as “farmed animals” shows an action being done to them rather than putting them in a position where it sounds like they are where they belong (being exploited, abused, and confined on farms).

“Dairy Cow” –> “Cow Used By The Dairy Industry”

When referring to cows who are trapped in the horrendous cycle of what is the dairy industry, we often refer to them as “dairy cows”. But they are cows, mothers, and sentient beings first. Unluckily for them we just happened to choose them specifically to confine and abuse for their sacred breastmilk, all so that we can take it for human consumption. Drinking the breastmilk of a cow has been normalized, but many mammals lactate such as zebras, bats, monkeys, and dolphins. Why aren’t we drinking their milk?

Cows are not “milk machines” by nature. So no, they are not “dairy cows” because they do not exist to produce milk for human consumption. They are “cows used by the dairy industry” because they produce breastmilk like many other mammals and mothers, and had the unfortunate luck of being domesticated by humans.

“A Voice For The Voiceless”

If you’ve done any sort of animal rights activism you’ve probably seen a t-shirt that encourages others to be a “voice for the voiceless”. This statement is harmful as it spreads the message that animals have no voice, and that they need us to be their voices. But that’s not true. While most nonhuman animals cannot speak English or other human languages, they have complex languages and communication systems of their own. And if you’ve ever watched a video of animals being sent to slaughter or forced to endure beatings on farms, it’s overwhelmingly clear that they are speaking out, crying out, and using their voice to express the pain or fear that they are experiencing. Nonhuman animals have powerful voices, we just choose to ignore them.

“Kill Two Birds With One Stone”

Phrases like this often have roots that are unknown to those who adopt them. But instead of normalizing violence against animals through phrases like these, why not change it up? Instead of the phrase above, why not say “feeding two birds with one scone” instead?

Nonhuman Animals Are People Too

Nonhuman animals are people too. Have you ever been talking about your dog and said, “He has the funniest personality!”? Thats’s because we, as humans, can subconsciously see the personalities of the animal companions that we spend the most time with. So the question becomes: what does it mean to have personhood?

In Animals Are People Too the writer says, “Having read dozens of books on animal ethics, from Tom Regan’s 1983 classic, The Case for Animal Rights, to Lisa Kemmerer’s In Search of Consistency: Ethics and Animals, I have seen virtually every alleged moral difference between humans and many nonhuman animals eviscerated, ultimately leading to the illuminous conclusion many animals are people, too, insofar as we concern their fundamental rights.”

I’ve integrated the idea that nonhuman animals are people too in my mind and everyday language. If you ever happen to find yourself sitting in a cafe with me sipping on a matcha with oat milk, and ask me how my day went, you’ll probably hear me say something like “It was great. I met the silliest people. Ethel was my favorite, she has a personality like no other and wouldn’t stop talking!”. If you then inquired further you would find out that Ethel is a turkey, and the “silly people” that I met were a diverse yet lively bunch of pigs, chickens, ducks, and cows that I met at a vegan animal sanctuary.

My biggest hope is that one day violence against nonhuman animals (and human animals) will be de-normalized, and that you’ll have an easy time telling me about the silliest nonhuman people that you met over an oat latte, too.

More On Veganism

If you’re ready to learn more about veganism, check out the Unruly Eating & Veganism section of the blog. There you can learn more about vegan travel, farmed animal sanctuaries, eating plant-based on a budget, and more.