It’s finally time to put an end to the negative stereotypes associated with the word “vegan.” Yes, you know it’s true! Vegans have long been depicted as the most unglamorous of people. I have often heard vegans described as “hippies, treehuggers, crunchy granola-heads, or boring yoga-obsessed naturalists who only eat tofu, sprouts, and lentils.”
This common stereotype was exemplified in Sacha Baron Cohen’s movie “The Dictator,” in which Anna Faris played Zooey, the vegan feminist protestor who worked in a Brooklyn Food Coop. Zooey’s character had short hair, hairy armpits, and sported Doc Martens on her feet. Some serious stereotyping going on there, don’t you think so?
Anna Faris as “Zooey” in The Dictator
The movie “Grown-Ups” also did an excellent job of feeding into vegan stereotypes. In the movie, Rob Schneider is married to an older “hippie-type” woman played by Joyce Van Patten. They are depicted as “oddballs” engrossed in their raw vegan lifestyle, who try to push food made in their dehydrator onto their friends during a reunion.
Rob Schneider & Joyce Van Patten in “Grown-Ups”
Although the vegan stereotyping goes on and on and on (see my post Vegan Bashing Everywhere…It’s All Good!), the modern face of veganism couldn’t be further from the images of the unglamorous “hippie-dippie” characters often depicted in media and film.
On the contrary, veganism has gone mainstream and some of our most glamorous and glorified public figures have proudly chosen to go vegan.
After all, do these vegan women look like unglamorous “hippies” to you?
Shane Barbi and Sia Barbi, popularly known as The Barbi Twins, are vegan identical twins, celebrity cover models, authors of two books on health, and community leaders in animal advocacy.
The Barbi Twins
Former “Baywatch” babe and animal advocate Pamela Anderson is the antithesis of a hippie.
Pamela Anderson
What about the beautiful and talented country singer Carrie Underwood? Would you describe her as a granola-eating hippie? I think not.
Carrie Underwood
Or the always beautiful actress Michelle Pfeiffer? C’mon people!
Michelle Pfeiffer
What about the lovely actress Kristen Bell, who starred in the movie Forgetting Sarah Marshall? She doesn’t look like a treehugger to me.
Kristen Bell
Nor does Rooney Mara, the Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. She oozes glamour, if you ask me.
Rooney Mara
And Portia de Rossi? A hippie? Hello! It’s time to get real!
Portia de Rossi
Even the glamorous socialite Cornelia Guest is vegan. I love her line of vegan handbags. They’re glamorous too!
Cornelia Guest
There’s nothing “crunchy” about TV actress Emily Deschanel. She’s a TV star! A non-crunchy glammed up star!
Emily Deschanel
Let’s not forget about the slinky, sexy tennis star Venus Williams. She’s nothing short of a goddess!
Venus Williams
Or the lovely Kathy Freston, a health and wellness advocate, and author of the books Quantum Wellness and Veganist.
Kathy Freston
Or Oscar-winning actress Anne Hathaway. She looks pretty sexy here, don’t you think so?
Anne Hathaway
And bombshell movie star Jessica Chastain. Absolutely nothing about this photo says “unglamorous!”
Jessica Chastain
No one has changed the face of veganism more than the ever-dedicated Alicia Silverstone. Am I right? Alicia, the ultimate vegan glamour girl!
Alicia Silverstone
So, as you can see, it’s time to ditch those stereotypes. The new faces of veganism are gorgeous, strong, sexy and fierce. Make no mistake about it…
The sexy vegan glamour girls are here to stay!
Click here to read my post Are Vegan Movie Stars Really Worth A Blog Post?
Click here to read my post Vegan Bashing Everywhere…It’s All Good!
Namaste,
Debby
xoxoxo
You belong on the list too.
LOL! But thanks Jerry!
Glad to know it! Thanks!
You should consider here that women in Hollywood, celebrities and fashion models are all under immense, HUGE pressure to get and stay very thin — in most cases, much thinner than they are genetically programmed to be, and much MUCH thinner than the population at large (*the camera adds 10 pounds, etc.).
As a result, they are inclined to any and all fad diets, “juice fasts”, plastic surgery, crackpot eating schemes and even outright starvation. Anorexia, bulimia, purging, binge eating and subclinical eating disorders are rampant in this group, even the norm. Yes, a beautiful face and tiny waist may make us THINK these women are “healthy” but it is NOT the case in most of them.
Also, among many fashion models (the skinniest of this group), smoking is the NORM, to hold down appetite. All groups here have higher than average usage of drugs like cocaine that decrease appetite and result in weight loss.
So their “veganism” must be considered in that light. I respect those who choose vegan or vegetarian eating out of morals or animal welfare, or for health. But not those who do it as way to cover their starvation and eating disorders, or in pursuit of a very skinny body.
There is a name for this behavior (hiding an eating disorder under the guise of “veganism”) — ORTHOREXIA. It is sadly more common than ever today, even in men.
I do not believe that the women mentioned in this article are insincere about their veganism, or unhealthy. Many of them have been dedicated to animal rights’ issues for most of their lives.
Being a vegan has nothing to do with covering up starvation or eating disorders. It is about not eating or using animal products.
I agree Jerry!
I think that what you are describing Lola is the ‘high-carb raw’diet which happens to be vegan, but in no way represents the majority of dietary vegans, never mind those who are vegan in more than a dietary sense.
It is hardly surprising that Sacha Baron Cohen uses stereotypes, only surprising that he used such a dated one. There are some vegans who ascribe to an ‘alternative’ (eg ‘goth’) lifestyle or other but most don’t. Maybe ‘glamour girls’ might simply become the next stereotype? There are several who are dietary vegans, including some not featured on this page; of those, some are vegan in more than a dietary sense.
Hello, I don’t know if this blog is still live, but here is a vegan glamour girl that may interest you, Love Island contestant India Reynolds. Here is her vegan recipe instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/recipesfromreyn/?hl=en
Thank you! We’re always interested in vegans creating buzz and their stories!
She may have adopted a vegan diet to keep her good figure for modelling lacy lingerie (via instagram which is now the modern advertising medium):
https://www.instagram.com/p/BhuKYylgbfm/
though I think that a lot of her recipes look quite fattening.