Why do a lot of people think vegetarians are some weird species?

Question

No, I am not old and not hispanic. I am 33. Just to clarify, not everyone thinks I am weird, in fact some think it is quite cool. My parents became vegetarian when they were young and were somewhat hippies at that time, so I was raised vegetarian from birth and never found it difficult at all. There are tons and tons of other stuff to eat. But sometimes a reaction to it takes me by surprise and I just don't see why another person would care about what I eat. I have no problem with other people's choice to eat meat.

Answer 1

They think that they can not live without meat.

Answer 2

Because lots of vegetarians are so condescending to everyone else and try to make them feel bad about what they eat. Just because you are a vegetarian doesn't mean that people who eat meat are horrible bloodthirsty people. I'm sure not all vegetarians are like that, but most of the ones I have met are that way. I'm not a murderer because I eat meat any more than you are some weird species because you don't. Respect goes both ways though.

Answer 3

I wish I knew why, too. I'm vegetarian except for those couple times a year when I can't resist shrimp any more. I guess it's because in America, meat-eating is pushed *so* much. Even on the elite end of the food spectrum, eating different kinds of meat is seen as adventurous, and people who don't want to eat pork bellies are kind of wimpy and disrespect the chef's art. It's seen as what "real" people do.

Unfortunately for us "real" people who have real allergies (to chicken, turkey, and eggs) and real cholesterol issues and real bad family histories, it's a pain to challenge those perceptions. Thankfully, there are more vegetarians, and more vegetarian-friendly products, coming along every year.

Answer 4

There is nothing wrong with being a vegetarian, if everyone knew what was done to meat in the markets they would consider being a vegetarian. The meat is injected with red dye to keep it looking fresh and also run it through a gas process to also preserve it. Being a vegetarian is much healthier. My husband is a hunter and we eat alot of deer and wild turkey atleast we know where that meat comes from.

Answer 5

Vegetarianism is a lot like religion. Those who inflict it on others face a backlash, and those who keep it to themselves are accepted and respected. I don't object to someone being a veggie as long as they don't expect me to be one too.

I have no problem avoiding use of the "George Carlin Seven Words" if I'm talking to a religious person who curbs his own tongue about "god", but I will deliberately and constantly say "jeebus h. pig fvcxing christ" around fundies who spew bible crap - oops, tracts - and expect me to listen.

In the same way, when I eat lunch with a vegetarian, I'm willing to stick to french fries and tomato sandwiches for a meal and eat meat in private. But when I meet a PETA-phile who starts blabbing on about animal rights, calling me a "murderer" for eating a tuna salad, I'll start talking about the price of steaks and eat hamburgers in front of them and offer them one.

If vegetarians respect those who don't agree with them, then there's no problem; but that is the problem: *a few* veggies go overboard and behave like fundamentally retarded christians, and feel some "right" to evangelize their chosen behaviour on the world. It's those who want to inflict their diet on others that meat - oops, meet - with the most resistance, and it's those same weiners - oops, whiners - who, like godbots, claim to be offended when it is they who started the problem.

Respect is a two way street, but some idiotic roadhogs expect nothing to happen when they drive down the middle.


Go listen to the views of "2, the Ranting Gryphon" and his take on hunters and vegetarians. I agree with him 100% on both topics.

http://www.ranting-gryphon.com/Rants.htm
http://www.ranting-gryphon.com/Rants/2rant-hunters.mp3
http://www.ranting-gryphon.com/Rants/2rant-vegetarians.mp3


Additional:

From the webpage linked by "Jayelle":

> High IQ link to being vegetarian

> But Dr Frankie Phillips, of the British Dietetic Association,
> said: "It is like the chicken and the egg. Do people become
> vegetarian because they have a very high IQ or is it just
> that they tend to be more aware of health issues?"

That's exactly what I was thinking, but with one more point:

The advocates of "prayer can heal" studies were shown to have falsified their data after wishful thinkers had to be forced to give up the real raw data. I'd like to know if this was truly an independent study, and not done by veg-o-matics with a pre-drawn conclusion, especially since other "veggie is better" studies also showed a similar lack of objectivity.


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Answer 6

I do not believe many people think that. Being vegetarian or Vegan is now quite popular. I notice that all the colleges have a seperate vegetarian section in their cafeterias, and most students prefer that food selection. I think you must be very old or out of touch with the world. Are you hispanic?

Answer 7

It is not that people look at vegetarians as a weird species. They are more like people who refuse to use words beginning with "R".
It just seems odd to most people that vegetarians have a diet that eliminates the main course from the typical American diet. Besides that, if they are not attentive to their diet, they may become deficient in certain nutrients.

Answer 8

I know several vegans and do not consider them "some weird species." I just don't agree with their dietary preferences, as I feel God made me a carnivore(omnivore actually) else why would I have canine teeth? By the By, I have met the Dalli Lama and he eats meat. His physician tells him he needs the elements in meat. YBIC

Answer 9

I think it's because we've been drowning in radical vegatarians who kick and scream saying eating meat is murder. People just don' t want to hear or be around people who are that "gung ho" about anything as silly as food.

My mother-in-law is a vegetarian and she does it for health reasons. The scary ones are the screamers! :)

Answer 10

It is about details and feed, what you eat you become or perish. Subdue and avoidance are neglectful to smart people, this being no bias whatsoever, we would notice, huh?
Vegetarians are weird species, and concerned not with respect or culture of body, this being a bit vane is useful too, for young people to fit trim and older folks to observe just. Bye.

Answer 11

same reason why people think people who care about the environment or who eat healthy or organic are weird - because the fact that you have principles and can stick to them makes people insecure about themselves; they are afraid inside that you are going to judge them or that they will have to examine their own lifestyle and see the truth about themselves. people don't like that. they'd rather suppress those feelings by criticizing you and going on with their lives unchanged by experiences. it's kind of like double-think from the orwell novel 1984.