VEGAN VIGNETTES: COMPASSION IS SEXY! LINGERIE ACTION VISUALS & REPORT

„You own your body – let other animals own theirs“ was one of the slogans of our comprehensive animal rights project which culminated in a lingerie action this past Saturday on the main street of Lyon.

Why lingerie? Well, we use our bodies simply as a free tool at our disposal to attract attention to the plight of animals and the necessity of their liberation. And what better way to attract attention that the sight of hot bodies in the middle of winter? Along with my beloved friends and fellow activists, it was a challenge, but also a privilege to be able to do activism in this unique way for the innocent, sentient beings that humanity is putting through hell every day.

We designed this action to be very open and inviting, enticing the public with smiles, good music and a positive atmosphere. The main message was: „Exploiting animals is not only horrible, but it‘s also unnecessary,“ and we framed our whole way of activism towards those millenials and Gen Z-ers who are very open to the idea of going vegan, but who might lack certain information and thus feel they must continue the old ways, either because of protein/nutrition or some other reason. We showed that it‘s easy to switch to a suffering-free lifestyle – and that it‘s even desireable! You can be and you will be strong, sexy and compassionate when you become vegan! And even the older folks were receptive of the message.

An ocean of gratitude to Marie and Natasha, who were queen bees with the organization, providing the necessary pillars of ideas and realization with such motivation and strength that organizing this project was truly a breeze! This action would not have been possible without them.

Another ocean of gratitude to Theo and Jeff, who joined us in underwear to show that men can equally be strong and sexy without munching on corpses! Fun fact: Jeff was one of the first people I approached when I had this idea past June during Vegan Place, and he is always so chill and up for great action that it is a pleasure to have such support. And Theo not only did an amazing shoot but also made sure his presentation at the lingerie action was very festive! This was truly a fantastic group of people who decided to use their voice and their bodies in an unexpected yet very attention-grabbing way for the animals. Amazing work and also – this way we managed to silence those speciesist complaints that the action was „objectifying women“. True feminism is advocating for all females of all species!

Our outreachers were Olympe and Sophia who also braved the cold to talk to people and raise their awareness on what happens behind the closed doors of slaughterhouses, and they distributed plenty of brochures and knowledge. Sophia was also part of the calendar and Olympe is an activist from Montpellier who came especially to support this action. Thank you both!

Speaking of a calendar: You know those sexy calendars that American firefighters do to collect money for good causes? Well, we did the same! Our sexy calendar showcases us, vegan animal rights activists from Lyon, all to collect money for „Le Cercle de P.A.N“ association for the protection of animals and nature. The association does incredible work in saving abandoned animals, their medical treatment and adoption, and raises awareness on animal exploitation and how to achieve an environmentally-friendly way of living. At the action, our lovely activist Valerie really rescued us by taking care of the calendar sale. A big thank you!

Fantastic photos and videos (to come) are all taken by Nathalie, who always supports whatever far-out idea we might have. So great to do activism with you. Merci, Nath! =)

Last but not least, Rose-Marie was also there to support us, just like she does on many other actions. Thank you very much!

Our lingerie action was very successful: we collected about 400 EUR for the animals! You can see the amount of 370 EUR at the big cheque in one of the photos, but actually, we had people approach us even after the action ended, so the final amount was bigger. Awesome!

Oftentimes, when we advocate for the animals on the street, we can only hope that we have awakened a sense of moral obligation and urgency in stopping one‘s support for the animal torture industries (meat, dairy and eggs, but also circuses, laboratories that experiment on animals, seaquariums, etc) in those we talk to. This time, we also did something that resulted in a concrete help for animals, and that is something that is incredible. Therefore, a big gratitude to all the activists who participated in this project. I‘m happy and proud to be an activist alongside you all.

Cherry on top of a vegan cake: we got some great media coverage! Check it out here (in French):

https://www.neozone.org/societe/la-compassion-est-sexygo-vegan-une-manifestation-en-lingerie-a-lyon-pour-soutenir-la-cause-animale

I cannot wait to see what positive things we do next. Let‘s veganize the planet!

VEGAN VIGNETTES: LINGUISTIC SPECIESISM

Last month, during a weekend stay in Paris, I stumbled upon this particular image in the subway, prominently displayed on an ad promoting the book. The title, of course, immediately drew my attention. „Holocaust in the Congo“ provokes a strong sentiment about the topic, and coupled with a distressful photo, it immediately tells a story of a horrific tragedy. Now, I have no reason to doubt that a holocaust has indeed happened in this place, and it‘s clear why the author chose the word „holocaust“ for the title: to somehow give a name to the immensity of suffering of the people in which France was probably an accomplice (pointed at by the subtitle „La France complice?“). What I do want to point to is linguistic hypocrisy as another example of overall speciesism, which is present in all areas of our everyday life, including language and communication.
The question is: why is it alright to use the word „holocaust“ in this particular example (and others that describe human suffering) but not when we want to describe the unbelievable suffering of literally trillions of non-human animals every year – innocent, sentient beings who are enslaved, experimented on, abused, tortured, raped, mutilated and violently murdered? The immensity of their suffering cannot even be put into words, which is why the most powerful word, a word that has the most intense emotional connotation and a word that encompasses all the different horrifying things that humans do to their victims is precisely a „holocaust“. Many Jewish writers have themselves written about this.
We are all well aware that the Holocaust happened to the Jewish people during World War II at the hands of the Nazis. That doesn‘t mean that another holocaust cannot happen, and indeed, that it is not happening right now (which it is). In short, to attempt to ban the use of the most descriptive word known to mankind for non-human animals under the pretext of sensitivity, but to allow the same word to be used for human animals for the same suffering is a clear example of linguistic speciesism, that is, a discrimination in our language against other sentient beings based on their species.
Until we learn to respect others‘ rights and behave according to the moral baseline, regardless of the species, race, and other differences, we will continue to subject both human and non-human animals – to other holocausts.

A BOSNIAN IN FRANCE x VEGAN VIGNETTES: NATIONALITY VERSUS EMPATHY?

With the second year of me being in France firmly establishing itself in the vestibules of my mind and everyday life (it‘s been almost six months since the anniversary), the thought of a review of this emerging identity firmly established itself, as well. The dust has settled, the horizon is foggy but promising. Who am I in all this, though, now, after a while? After the proud, antagonizing presence mellowed into a kind of uncertainty?

A lot of it has to do with disappointment. Or, better put, a kind of realization: no matter what Bosnians do and are, the basic ethical principle of „do no harm“ that is fundamental to veganism and my personal view of purpose in the world is not organic to them. To us. Just like any other nation in the world, Bosnians and Herzegovinians by and large are necrovores and think it‘s okay to oppress animals. That is a stance I cannot get behind.

So, what exactly is our nationality when faced with oppression? Does it even matter? I‘d love to be able to say that my nation is enlightened and non-oppressive, but the reality is that, in regards to animals, we are no different than anyone else on the planet (exceptions nothwithstanding). The animals are still being bred into miserable and short existence, exploited, tortured, mutilated, raped and murdered for pleasure, be it taste, entertainment, clothing… That is, sadly, true for Bosnia as much as its neighboring countries, as much as the US, the UK… or France, for that matter.

One injustice does not negate another. It is also true that Bosnia and Herzegovina has been through the worst atrocities in Europe since WWII, that the Serb military forces, along with Croat military forces, performed ethnic cleansing and systematic genocide during the aggression in the 1990s, and it is true that the country and its residents are still going through a systematic negation of the cleansing and genocide by ultranationalists inside who want to tear it apart. That is a truth I will always speak loudly.

However, blindly defending everything we do and produce is not part of patriotism. For example, I will never champion a cheese company from Bosnia and Herzegovina, because that „success“ is built upon grieving mothers and their dead children. Cheese comes from milk, and milk comes from mothers – exploited mothers whose milk is stolen by humans.

In that light, patriotism can never justify an injustice. And, that is why, next to locals, there are numerous animal rights activists here who hail from different countries, different nationalities, different religions, who have all clearly seen what happens behind the doors of slaughterhouses and milk factories, regardless of where they are. Whether it is France or Bosnia and Herzegovina, we are united in one goal: the liberation of all non-human animals.

In the end, I realized that there is a way to be both: a Bosnian and an animal rights activist. After all, I was both back in my homeland, and I can be both here. Issues and uncertainties regarding what it means to defend the truth about my country here will arise in the future, I‘m sure, but my settlement so far has clearly shown me how I want to spend most of my free time: defending the most innocent beings on the planet – animals. That is one of my reasons for existence, my purpose.

I will say one more thing to my Bosnians and Herzegovinians, as well as all the people, everywhere in the world: without changing our fundamental view of non-human animals, we will collectively never be able to rise above doing harm to other, human animals. As Tolstoy has rightfully remarked: „How can we hope that peace and prosperity will reign on Earth, if our bodies are living tombs, in which murdered animals are buried?

As long as there are slaughterhouses there will be battlefields.

/visual impressions from the most recent action of animal rights activists in Lyon, France, against the consumption and glorification of meat aka dead animal parts in one of Lyon’s most famous meat restaurants, April 1, 2023 – photos by Nath One Voice/