Women’s Vegetarian Union, The

Definition

The Women’s Vegetarian Union was established on March 5, 1895, by Alexandrine Veigelé, who was also elected as its president. By 1897, it had 300 members, with representatives from France, England, Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Seychelles, and Switzerland. Veigelé herself was French but lived in London. Though male journalists in mainstream press ridiculed the Union, Shafts Magazine and The Women’s Signal both publicized their activities, revealing the close association between vegetarianism and feminism in the late Victorian period. Shafts embedded the announcement of the Union’s foundation within a page on anti-vivisection, using spatial juxtaposition to integrate it with the journal’s other editorial concerns and campaigns. Its alignment of diet and health with the cause of social justice allowed women to negotiate the transition from private to public spheres and to express an interest in politics that was seen as congruous with their traditional responsibilities as...