The words don’t seem that common, but I think ‘animalist’ or ‘animalism’ put the focus back on animals, similar to ‘feminist/feminism’, and more accurately describe what veganism means to me: a moral stance supporting animals. It somewhat confuses me that there isn’t a simple term to denote full support and protection for animals, other than veganism I guess, and that veganism doesn’t contain ‘animal’ in the name which could be misleading.

I feel like while veganism is a good term, it can sometimes carry the wrong connotations I’m trying to express due to public misunderstanding of what vegan means or what the point of it is. I think too many people think it’s a religious/ascetic or arbitrary practice, rather than a progressive ethical stance to do with not exploiting animals. That said, vegan/veganism, whether intended to be used this way, seem like good catch-all terms for completely avoiding animal exploitation/animal “use” for whatever reasons, whether ethical, environmental and/or health-related. And, it may be the most accurately understood word that expresses to other people about what I don’t partake in, including for dietary purposes (morso than ‘plant-based’).

Animalist/animalism could be used in tandem with vegan/veganism to specifically highlight the component/focus on animal ethics. For example “I’m vegan because I’m an animalist, and also because I’m an environmentalist.” This can also be a way to answer the question of why you’re vegan when people ask.

P.S.

I also like how animalist/animalism are simple, quick one-word terms, unlike wordy “animal liberationist” (which apparently means the same as animalist), or “animal rights supporter”. Animal advocate sounds like animal activist which isn’t what I’m trying to express with this particular term as much as an ideological support for animals, like how a feminist isn’t necessarily a women’s rights advocate.

I know the words can relate to a philosophy but those might not be used that much, especially ‘animalist’, and I hoped they could be co-opted for the animal movement as they seem like useful words. I try to imagine what a future vegan society would call themselves, and animalist / animalism just seem like easy words to gravitate to. According to my research, they’ve both been used in animal rights contexts as well.

Sorry for the long post, I’ve been wondering this for a while and wanted to see what other vegans think about the terms ‘animalist’ and ‘animalism’.