"Fun"
There's something about using the word "fun" in connection with animal activism that seems to bother some and inspire others.
I've been organizing a series of animal rights community dialogues through Liberation BC this year. The first of these happened in April.
One of the topics that many of the people in the group wanted to focus on for one of the following meetings was using entertainment and fun for outreach. Some people in the group, though, took issue with the emphasis on fun.
It's almost as if they feel that doing good or being active is somehow not fun and should never be viewed as such. Or, if you're having fun, you must not be as focused on the animals as you should be.
Here's how I think of fun in connection with my activism.
Most of what I do, I enjoy doing. Writing, building websites, tabling, talking to people, organizing community events – these are all fun activities to me. Because I enjoy doing them I am much more willing to sustain doing them for most of my free time.
If I were just doing things because I had to, but didn't get any enjoyment out of it, what are the chances I would continue to do it? Pretty close to zero. I also likely wouldn't be very effective. If I simply hated talking to people about veganism, I probably shouldn't talk to people about veganism; they'll be able to tell, they'd be less likely to listen, and so on.
This is a lot different than avoiding what is necessary because it won't be fun. I think we can all find areas of overlap between what needs to be done, what we are good at, and what we enjoy.
If we hope to sustain our activism, we'd better learn how to have fun doing it or we aren't going to last long at it. And we won't be doing the best for animals that we can. Our mental and physical health will suffer and we might even suffer burnout or a breakdown.
How do you think about fun?
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Comments
Anonymous:
I love participating in activism and helping animals. I can't imagine spending my spare time doing anything else. I become anxious and bored when I go out partying, drinking or even to a movie. I think it's a total waste of time and I avoid it like the plague!
So to me, going out and doing what people find "fun" is insufferable, while doing work helping animals is immensely satisfying and fun. People always say, how do you find time doing all this AR work. My response is, how do you find time going to the movies and going out to get drunk? To me, fun=helping animals, torture=partying without a purpose.
veganpanda:
You titled this blog 'fun'... In the dictionary the word fun means 'something that provides mirth or amusement', it certainly doesn't mean to enjoy something... people can enjoy many things without having an ounce of 'fun'.
Of course I enjoy being Vegan & enjoy helping the animals the best ways I can... I will never say I'm having fun, because I'm not! It's hardly fun knowing that every second animals are going through living hell, that never leaves me & is what drives me on.
I stopped going to various AR demos, as there were too many people that cared more about 'fun' than even getting the correct message across. Some would bring booze & other drugs along or already be high, some just played jokes on each other... this made us all look like we were there for fun rather than to educate the public. Quite sick!!
Glenn:
Fun can also mean "enjoyment or playfulness" which I think certainly fits. And also actually fits with your comment!
Doing work that helps animals or engaging in discussion of difficult topics that might make us more effective is actually fun to me, since it provides such a deep sense of enjoyment. It is quite possible – and I think highly desirable – to learn how to have fun doing important and potentially difficult work.
As an example, a few years ago a number of us jumped into a rodeo ring. It was dangerous, but it came at just the right time and this 60-year-old rodeo dropped all of the roping events. A lot of factors combined to create this result. But jumping into the rodeo ring was unquestionably fun. It was dangerous, it was enjoyable, it was even playful.
I wonder if perhaps the activists who came to the demos you mention drunk or high suffered from this same idea that animal rights work can't be fun, so if they want to have fun they need to bring their own. If the events were allowed to be fun, maybe people would have enjoyed them – and the events might have been more effective. I don't know.
What I do know is that when people see that activists enjoy what they are doing (leafleting, tabling, holding signs, etc) they are far more likely to be sympathetic, take information, and react positively.
I really think fun (and playfulness) get left out of our activism too much, probably out of a sense of guilt over having fun while animals suffer. Working fun into our activism can create events that are more engaging, more sustainable in the long term, and build a stronger and more cohesive community.
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