What does the word ‘vegan’ mean to you? This may seem like an odd question but ‘vegan’ is something that’s gaining increasing amounts of confusion and detachment from its original meaning. These are some of the most common definitions I hear:

• a diet consisting of plant-based foods

• someone who eats a plant-based diet

• foods that do not contain animal products

• someone who abstains from using animals products

• someone who abstains from using animal products and items that have used animals in their making (e.g. animal tested cosmetics or wine filtered through fish’s guts)

None of these definitions match the definition I knew. This caused a lot of miscommunication through the years from ordering at restaurants and understanding labels to speaking with people (both close friends and the general public) in person and online. If we’re coming to the metaphorical discussion table with differing definitions of what we’re talking about, how are we going to understand each other? And worse, with the media manipulating and misusing the word ‘vegan’ and often whipping up negative press around the topic, the word is now met with instant defense, anger, upset, resentment, guilt and a host of other negative emotions. So before we’ve even begun the conversation we’re often met with a wall of preconceived notions. In order to get back to an even playing field we’d have to untangle the webs of misconceptions, emotional responses, confusing definitions and personal experiences of the words used with different terminology… and that’s assuming the other person is open to doing so, which they usually aren’t after hearing the dreaded v-word.

I’ve spent the last few years trying to reclaim the word and educate people on what veganism means to me: a philosophical position that believes all sentient life to be worthy of respect and so avoiding as far as possible harm to others. This is the definition I was under the assumption everyone else had, too, when I first discovered the word. It wasn’t until a little while later that I realised almost everyone I spoke with had their own definition and has been assuming the same thing as me… that everyone else also shared their definition. This is dangerous at worst and impractical at best.

I have spent the last year intentionally using the word ‘vegan’ as little as possible. I use it when it provides clarity (e.g. to express my dietary requirements to restaurant staff) or as an SEO tool (e.g. using the vegan hashtags on Instagram and Twitter). Otherwise I express myself without relying on a word with mixed definitions and controversial assumptions made around it. Here are some ways I discuss my stance on the use of animals without saying “vegan”:

• I am an animal advocate

• I practice nonviolence which means I avoid harming both human animals and non-human animals

• I do not consume animals or their fluids

• I do not see animals as commodities, they are sentient beings with lives of their own

• I’m anti-oppression and so do not use animals including eating them, wearing them or using them for entertainment

Speaking more directly in this way with people gives them clarity about what I mean and adds nuances unavailable in a single word and allows me to voice my thoughts without a defensive blockade. But it’s not just what other people think about veganism that has me using the word less frequently. I’ve also come to realise that the word is limiting. Veganism, by most people’s definition, speaks only to one’s individual consumption and doesn’t address actions taken to end unnecessary suffering at large. To make clearer what I mean let me use the classic analogy of a dog: You’re taking a walk and you see a human hitting a dog with a stick. Do you a) pick up a stick of your own and also hit the dog? b) keep walking? or c) stop them from hitting the dog and send the dog to safety?

Definitions of veganism do not include taking direct action to end the suffering of non-human animals by the hands of other humans. In this analogy veganism is option b, that is to not directly inflict suffering on the dog yourself but also not actively stop others from inflicting the violence either. If we’re aware of their suffering and able to do something to stop it, shouldn’t we? Direct action, animal advocacy and nonviolence (as opposed to non-violence) have become vital parts of my stance on animal use. And veganism doesn’t speak to anything outside of my personal use of animals. Here are some terms I feel more closely aligned with than ‘vegan’:

• animal advocate

• animal liberationist

• anti-oppression activist

Veganism has grown rapidly over the past few years and the rise in consciousness around the industries that exploit animals with it. But with this the definition of veganism has become muddied and unclear. Of course I’ll always be vegan but for clarity and as part of my personal evolution I have found it best to have more nuanced interactions without using a word that has become weaponized.