by Destiny DeJesus
M
ost of us VEGWORLD readers know there’s no such thing as “looking vegan.”
Unfortunately, most other people don’t. And that may include some of us. Veganism is not synonymous with health, thinness, or athleticism, but Google seems to think otherwise. When you type “vegan person” into their search engine, you’ll find photos of thin, able-bodied, and predominantly white people eating salads or drinking green juices. You might also find a few
Dalissa. “My family assumes that I’m vegan because I want to lose weight when, in reality, I’m just trying to keep the planet from dying.” As much as we like to believe that we live in a body-positive world, we seem to forget that some bodies are left behind. Fat, black, indigenous, disabled, and trans bodies are just a few that are overlooked when we think of veganism. Yet these are the bodies that receive the most policing from society.
photos of vegan celebrities and wellknown vegan activists. But you’ll rarely see images of vegans of color, overweight vegans, or disabled vegans. This all stems from what society thinks of as a “vegan body.” There’s this general misconception that veganism equals healthy and that healthy equals skinny. Of course, in actuality, health and thinness are not achievable for everyone. “It’s really frustrating that people automatically assume that I’m a junk-food vegan because of how fat I am,” says
VEGWORLD Magazine
The Athlete Issue
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Issue 58 - May/June 2020
49
