5 Claims About Vegans That Just Aren't True

Vegans are rich, obsessive sissies, right? Not exactly, writes Carol J. Adams for the Washington Post. She lays out five myths surrounding the 0.5% of Americans who abstain from everything animal.

1. Vegans have so many rules: It's the trickiness of avoiding all animal products that make this claim seem true—after all, Hostess fruit pies contain beef fat and toothpaste can contain bone meal. But look in the mirror, writes Adams. Vegans think meateaters have plenty of rules, too: Cows are OK here, but not in India. Dogs are OK here, but are served in Korea. Let's call this one a draw.

2. No manly man is a vegan: The idea that eating meat makes a man a real man gathered a lot of support in the '60s, writes Adams, when anthropologists linked civilization's growth to "man the hunter." But look around: Famed runner Carl Lewis, Mike Tyson, Outkast's Andre 3000, and a group of Austin firefighters are all vegan—and pretty manly.
3. Vegans spend a ton of money being vegan: How much more expensive (or difficult) is it to order a sauce- and veggie-topped pizza than a cheese- and pepperoni-topped one? To substitute beans for meat atop a salad?

Click to read Adams' entire list, which includes myth No. 4: Vegans care about animals more than people. (More vegan stories.)