The Daily of the University of Washington

Animal-safe sex


Whip cream is sexy.


Photo by Nikolaj Lasbo.

Assortment of all-vegan condoms, whip, halter and banana at Babeland.



Photo by Nikolaj Lasbo.

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Animal-safe sex

“Passion for the Compassionate” is the slogan for veganerotica.com, a boutique with a leaning toward animal-free and cruelty-free pleasure products. From leather-free bondage equipment to vegan lubricant (not tested on animals), a vegan has everything he or she needs for a night of animal-free passion.

Safe sex can be vegan as well. Since most regular condoms contain casein, a milk protein, animal-friendly condoms are available. Sidecar, a vegan shop on the Ave, sells flavored vegan condoms.


But, whip cream made from flax seed?

Vegans say it’s sexier.

Vegans and vegetarians discussed aspects of veggie-friendly sex at a meeting of the Campus Animal Rights Educators (C.A.R.E.). The good-natured argument ran the gamut from whether swallowing is vegan (it all comes down to consent, they said) to the dearth of male vegans. One male member said he even has trouble keeping the vegan ladies away because he’s such a rare specimen in the non-meat eating world.

“I have to carry sticks with me,” junior group member Thaddaeus Buser said.

Veganism, the avoidance of animal products and byproducts, can extend into all aspects of a follower’s life. It is not simply a diet, but a lifestyle. Along with not eating cheese and drinking milk, vegans can also choose to avoid products made with leather and wool, vitamins made with gelatin, and condoms made with casein, a milk protein. It is a lifestyle of compassion, they say.

Members of the group became vegan for various reasons, including cruelty inherent in factory farming, human rights abuses at slaughterhouses, health, alleviation of world hunger, and a general love of animals.

“It’s more about morals than a dogma,” Buser said.

“Any who stay vegan went for compassion [not dieting]. [Being vegan] is no longer about you; it is about everything,” said graduate student Michael Xenakis, another group member. “Which brings you back to being a good lover.”

Some vegetarians have an aversion to kissing a meat-eater, much less dating them, according to an article from eatveg.com, a Web site specializing in vegan issues.

Vegans make up such a tiny portion of the population that exclusively dating vegans isn’t realistic, said sophome Anastasia Schemkes, another group member.

For Buser, dating omnivores is “outreach work.”

“I make the planet a better place one lucky lady at a time,” he said.

Junior Alisse Cassel, a C.A.R.E. officer, agreed with Buser’s sentiments.

“It’s good to date omnivores,” she said. “You can subversively make them eat vegan food.”

Besides, if vegans only dated vegans, omnivores would be missing out. Vegans are animals in the sack — and “better looking,” said junior Catherine Riedo, another officer.

Cassel said some bodily fluids taste better from a vegan.

“On an emotional level, the compassion we bring to the table [makes vegans good lovers],” Xenakis said.

The vegan lifestyle is an expressive philosophy, Buser said. That compassion carries over to the bedroom in more ways than the emotional.


12 Comments

#1 Maya Chapelle
(Oakland, CA | Unverified Name)

on February 7, 2008 at 11:43 a.m.
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This is an awesome article. I also found some great vegan bondage products at Babeland.com at http://store.babeland.com/brands-spor...

#2 Meg
(Courtenay, Canada | Unverified Name)

on February 7, 2008 at 5:06 p.m.
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Rejected headline: "Vegans say vegans are better at everything".

#3 Jim
(Sheridan, WY | Unverified Name)

on February 10, 2008 at 4:47 p.m.
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Thaddeus Buser, apparently God's vegan gift to women, may not eat animals, but that has not prevented him from growing a grotesquely fat head. And as far as veganism being "more about morals than a dogma," to use another well-known animal byproduct--bulls**t! (And I do find it rather amusing in commenting on an article discussing, among other things, bodily fluids and bondage, I am required to insert, as it were, the two asterisks into my text.)

#4 Thaddaeus Buser
(UW Campus | Unverified Name)

on February 11, 2008 at 10:13 a.m.
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you know jim, maybe if you let me take you out sometime you wouldn't think veganism is so bad after all...

#5 Ryan Wells
(Portland, OR | Unverified Name)

on February 11, 2008 at 6:08 p.m.
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Thaddaeus, you rock my friend.

#6 h.k.
(New York, NY | Unverified Name)

on February 13, 2008 at 12:36 p.m.
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i can vouch for mr. buser's big head (pun intended). he has a lot going for him, if you know what i mean.

#7 e.k.
(Holt, MI | Unverified Name)

on February 13, 2008 at 2:54 p.m.
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that article was kind of a waste of time. seriously.

#8 toystoys
(Location Unknown | Unverified Name)

on February 20, 2008 at 2:13 p.m.
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"Cassel said some bodily fluids taste better from a vegan." OMG whats this , please ...
http://www.sexdiscussionforum.info - take a look and shut up

:/

#9 zizo
(Cairo, Egypt | Unverified Name)

on April 14, 2008 at 9:13 a.m.
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hi

#10 abo_abdala57
(Damanhour, Egypt | Unverified Name)

on April 22, 2008 at 4 p.m.
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#11 saeed
(Doha, Qatar | Unverified Name)

on December 7, 2008 at 8:20 p.m.
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hallllllllll

#12 Cody L.
(UW Campus | UW Community)

on February 3, 2009 at 12:20 a.m.
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Well, this is certainly one of the weirder articles the Daily has posted in recent memory, even if it's roughly a year old.


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