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There are things we know are offensive to
say. Like “you, [bleeped], are an [bleeped].
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I want to [bleeped] your mother and [bleeped]your
father [bleeped]stand up [bleeped] man.”
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Okay, so here’s what I actually said. (I
do make videos for kids, after all.)
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But there are certain common colloquialisms
many of us use everyday that you probably don't
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realize are offensive. So I’m here to make you
feel bad about yet another thing that you do!
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I thought I’d changed that
part of the script.
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Hi it's Emily from Bite Size Vegan and welcome
to another vegan nugget. Words are powerful,
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and how we talk about things and each other
greatly affects our perception. Anyone who
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was given an unfortunate nickname in school
knows what I mean.
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While our culture, at least in the United
States, has become more and more politically
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correct with how we refer to and talk about
each other, one group remains continually
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raked over the coals, even by those with the
most elegant elocution: non-human animals.
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You horse’s ass! He eats like a pig! Let’s
kill two birds with one stone! There’s more
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than one way to skin a cat! Not to beat a
dead horse, but… Like shooting fish in a barrel!
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A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush!
She was bleeding like a stuck pig! He is
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a total animal! What a bird-brain. This room is
a pigsty! Stop running around like a chicken
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with its head cut off! He’s crafty…crafty
like a fox!
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Oh that last one’s actually kinda nice.
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Now before you dismiss this concept as silly,
let’s rephrase some of these sayings and
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see if they still sound innocuous.
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A kid in the van is worth two on the playground.
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There’s more than one way to traumatize
a toddler!
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Let's beat two women with one stick.
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Like shooting kids in a ball pit.
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Let’s not beat a dead hooker.
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Suddenly, these phrases seem far less acceptable
and harmless. So why is it okay for us to
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use violent and hateful phrases with animals?
Is it because they can’t understand us?
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Or because we don’t mean it literally?
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Well, the issue isn’t whether animals can
understand us, it’s the perception and permissibility
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that this language creates. Like the idea
that pigs are dirty, gluttonous, and amoral.
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when in fact they are very clean and intelligent animals.
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Strangely enough we even
say “I’m sweating like a pig” when pigs
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cannot sweat! That’s why they bathe in mud,
leading to another misnomer, “as happy as a
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pig in sh—t.” While a pig actually in feces
would not be thrilled.
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Other inaccuracies include “bird-brain,”
meaning stupid, when birds are far more intelligent
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than we give them credit for. And “you’re
chicken,” meaning cowardly, when I can tell
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you first hand that an angry chicken or rooster
has no issue with charging a being significantly
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larger than them and can
seriously mess you up.
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I’m talking to you, Napoleon at SASHA Farm
Animal Samctuary.
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Then there’s “like a lamb to slaughter,”
meaning being calmly unaware of your impending
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doom, when any lamb I’ve seen on their way
to slaughter is anything but serene.
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And why is a horse’s ass any more incompetent
than any other ass? Even an ass’ ass?
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The most disturbing are, of course the violent
ones. Skinning a cat, killing birds with stones,
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bleeding a stuck pig, beating a dead horse,
shooting fish in a barrel. Yes these are just
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sayings, usually uttered without a thought,
but language has power.
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We call animals “it” instead of “she”
or “he.” We “process” them instead
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of killing them. We “cull” wildlife instead
of carry out systematic slaughter. We “own”
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them instead of enslaving them. We “inseminate”
them instead of raping them.
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It’s interesting how acceptable it is to
express violent and hateful speech about animals,
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yet when we name the things we do to them
for what they are, everyone bristles. We say
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these sayings and phrases are harmless yet
we get up in arms when certain words are used
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for animals. Why are enslavement, murder,
and rape reserved for humans? Using these
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words for animals doesn’t detract from the
validity of what human victims have been through,
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it gives validity to what non-human victims
are going through.
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We resist validating the atrocities animals
experience, then we refer to someone as an
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“animal” when they’ve committed depraved,
horrific acts that only the human animal commits.
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When we speak of animals as if they are dirty,
worthless, stupid, disposable “its” lacking
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any identity or value, it allows us to stay
disconnected to the reality of what we are
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doing to them. We treat them like property
with our actions, our language, and our laws.
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We devalue them in the most casual of contexts. So let's be more mindful of what we're saying.
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And really listen for the violence and dismissal in our words.
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Try busting out some of the substitutions
I gave earlier and see the reaction you get
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when we turn the tables of our terms on ourselves.
Or use innocuous or even positive terms like
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“more than one way to peel a potato” or
“save two birds with one home.”
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Language has power. Let’s not use it to
continually devalue and victimize animals,
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but instead to validate what they are going
through, with words that nobody owns.
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I hope you enjoyed this carefully worded nugget.
I’d love to hear from you – are there
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any other animal-based sayings in your culture
or family? What do you think of the implications
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of such phrases? Let me know in the comments!
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If you liked this video, do give it
a thumbs up and share it around to raise awareness
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of our words. If you’re new here, I’d
love to have you as a subscriber. I put out
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fresh content covering all aspects of veganism
every Monday, Wednesday and some Fridays.
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To help support Bite Size Vegan’s educational
efforts, please see the support links below
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or click on the Nugget Army icon or the link in the sidebar.
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Now go live vegan, think before you speak, and I’ll see you soon.
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