Why do people invent complicated "rules" of vegetarianism/veganism?

Question

"Vegetarians don't eat anything that moves."
"Vegetarians don't eat beef or pork or chicken or turkey or fish or shrimp or lobster or..."
"Vegetarians don't eat anything from a farm."
"Vegetarians don't eat anything with legs."
"Vegetarians don't eat anything with a face."

What's so complicated about vegetarianism that makes people invent their own crazy definitions of it? Is "vegetarians don't eat animals" really so hard to understand?

To lovely: the thing is, not all animals have a face. Oysters, for instance.

To everyone: I guess I should have made it clear that my question is mainly referring to people who aren't themselves vegetarian.

To nikkor13: Go away and whine about it to your friend whom you hate so much instead of whining about it to us.

To redman_vf:

You totally misunderstood my question. I'm a vegan myself, in fact. I was just asking why it is that non-vegetarians/non-vegans have so much trouble understanding what we [don't] eat and invent their own silly/false "rules of vegetarianism/veganism"?

Answer 1

It's a direct result of meat eaters who can't grasp the concept of "Vegetarians don't eat animals".

Answer 2

Because there are people who don't understand these basic facts. If a person goes to a restaurant, says "I'm vegetarian" and orders seafood, then the waitstaff will assume that seafood is vegetarian (OK, maybe not but some will). Then when the stricter vegetarians go eat there, they get an unpleasant surprise. This is just an example. Like many things in life, there is need for a uniform code that people can understand to avoid confusion.

Nikkor,

Plants have a nervous system? Huh? Do you know something we don't? Shouldn't you be, like, applying for the Nobel Prize or something?

Answer 3

Because there are ALOT of people that think vegetarians eat fish and chicken. For some reason, people think that a fish is not an animal so it is explained in the simplest form so they understand. I have seen many, many questions like "Do vegetarians eat fish?". The people that ask are not making the "fish is actually an animal" connection so a very basic answer must be provided.

Answer 4

I totally see what you mean... I wish it were as simple as saying "I don't eat animals" as well. Unfortunately, not everyone seems to understand the concept of "Animal."

You have people constantly trying to bend the very definition of Animal. People, including "vegetarians," claim they eat fish and that they are not meat. It is ridiculous and silly. If everyone could use informed common sense to understand "animal" and "not-animal," I would have to explain my lunch a lot less often at business meetings. (As a side note, I wish I didn't have to explain a salad and fries with BBQ sauce, as I don't ask anyone else to explain his or her bacon double cheeseburger)

:)

In their defense however, there are many names for animal meat that are hidden in things. So, I can completely understand why people have a lot of questions about why I cannot drink gas station cappuccino or eat several types of bakery.

There are also different levels of being vegetarian. I don't eat eggs, so there is also the added complexity of that. I guess lifestyles aren't always so simple to explain.

EDIT- Oh yes, and (as I am sure you have seen quite often here) the non-vegetarians who cannot understand differing lifestyles always have to pose every hypothetical question and potential "loophole" possible to try to find any tiny way in which you might, even in some parallel universe, begin to eat meat or finally fall back into their accepted view of the universe. Unfortunately, we get drawn into said silly things... Thus, huge definitions and ridiculous rules are born.

I myself am now trying to lean more toward passive resistance and ignoring in said cases.

Answer 5

I agree with you.

A vegetarian does not eat meat, fish, poulty or slaughter by-products

Its so simple. The defintion is in dictionaries and supported by the main vegetarian organisations in the world.

Just this last week I've had people tell me they are vegetarain and :

Its ok to eat fish
Its ok to eat beef once in a while
Its ok to eat cheese with dead cows in it
Its ok to drink beer with dead fish in it.....

to me its just a sad inditment on people that they choose to make up thier own definitions becasue they cannot be bothered to learn the real definition. Or worse, they CHOOSE to ignore it....for what reasion, i have no clue ?

"lovely"'s answer sums up your point. there is no need to say "i don't eat anything with a face". If someone cannot understand a chicken or fish is an animal then that situation needs to be explained to them. If you are a veggie, stand up and say "I'm a veggie", don't patronise meateaters jsut because they can be ignorant.

I often get :
me: " What vegetarian food do you have ?"
them ":We have fish"
me: no , i'm vegetarian"
them:"we have fish"
me: no , i'm vegetarian"
them:....etc

eventually, i hear a penny drop and they understand. No need to start on the "its got a face/mother" stuff

Answer 6

Blogging has been around since the late 70's when Bulletin Board Systems (BBS) were around and you had to dial thru a phone line to connect, YES a phone line using a modem like a 28.8K or slower which if you wanted to download a movie or game would take 3 days (no joke) which now takes like what 1 minute? The hipe of the internet started only a few years ago when high speed internet was brought into the spot light! you got to remember there have been online message boards on bulletin board systems (BBS) dating back to the late 70's you could also play games and chat on them too.

Answer 7

Sometimes I tell people I don't eat anything with a mother because some people can't seem to understand that fish/seafood aren't vegetarian.

Answer 8

Vegetarianism is a diet. Veganism is a way of life and not consuming animals is just a natural extension of believing that animals are not ours to kill, torture, enslave, or dominate. There is nothing complicated about not eating meat/dairy/egg if you realize what they are... murder/excretions/menstral waste. Life taken from another being that you don't need, you just want and accept that you cannot survive without.

Answer 9

I say I don't eat anything with face.
Reason: Because if I say I don't eat animals people say, "But you eat chicken and fish, right?" So that seems to clear up the confusion on whether a creature has to be a mammal to be an animal.


Psycho:
Good point. There are exceptions to every rule.

Answer 10

So I can eat out in restaurants without getting into complicated discussions, or being offered fish.

You wouldn't be asking, though, if it wasn't for "I'm-a-vegetarian-but" types. Curse their oily hides!

Answer 11

They're not rules, but definitions.

Bascially, they are individual variations of the same theme. It's not hard to understand at all, not if you want to understand it. The problem is that omnivores tend to be scared of the idea or hostile to the idea, and belittle some explanations, so we just keep trying.

My preference is that I won't eat anything from anything with a nervous system.