Kentli Veganların Damgalanma Deneyimleri: Ankara ve İstanbul Örneği

Abstract

This study aims to examine the experiences of stigmatization encountered by urban vegan individuals living in Ankara and Istanbul in their everyday lives, how these processes operate and how individuals cope with them. Using a qualitative research design, semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with 15 vegan participants (11 women and 4 men) aged between 20 and 48 who were reached through the snowball sampling technique. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive and thematic analysis methods. According to the findings of the study, participants define veganism as an ethical, political, and holistic lifestyle that rejects animal exploitation. The influence of visual media, the questioning of speciesism, ecological and systemic critiques, and the search for belonging emerge as the main motivations behind individuals’ transition to veganism. However, this non-normative lifestyle choice also leads to practices of exclusion and stigmatization within family settings, friendship circles, and public spaces such as restaurants, workplaces, and social gatherings. In society, vegans are frequently labeled as “unhealthy,” “weak,” “marginal,” “aggressive” or as opposing traditions and beliefs. Moreover, vegan men are often questioned in relation to hegemonic masculinity norms through their gender identities. These prejudices, which are also reproduced through media and humor, leave vegan individuals in a constant state of explanation fatigue and self-defense. In order to cope with these processes of stigmatization and discrimination, vegan individuals develop various strategies such as selective communication, remaining silent, claiming food allergies in restaurants, and cutting ties with people who do not respect their lifestyle choices. For participants who feel legally and institutionally unprotected, the most significant coping mechanism is becoming part of vegan communities and solidarity networks that share similar ethical values.