I don't walk around telling people that I'm a vegan. However...?

Question

Whenever someone finds out that I eat vegan, they seem to really be bothered by it and I find myself being told what a loser I am simply for having a different diet than someone else. I find that I get similar heat when someone finds out I'm an environmentalist. Does anyone else experience stuff like this?

Sometimes I can't tell what I get bothered about more: being a vegan or being a lesbian.

Answer 1

You have completely fulfilled the vegan stereotype.

I never have that problem but I eat meat and am not gay.

Answer 2

You might want to ask them why being a lesbian vegan envrionmentalist bothers them. Even when people try not to be judgemental, some people take another person's veganism/environmentalism as a judgment on them.

Check out Carol J. Adams' "Living Among Meat Eaters" for ideas on dealing gently with the people who don't get you.

Answer 3

Yes, I think anyone who tries to live a life that reflects a belief system that isn't completely mainstream gets this kind of heat. I get ridiculed by my athiest dad for being Christian. Good on you for going with your convictions in this; it's a hard thing to do, and veganism can be a hard diet to do well (particularly when you're just getting started).

I don't imagine their ignorant comments will turn you off being either a vegan or an environmentalist, but keep in mind that for every overtly negative person there are two positive and one who wishes they had your courage or conviction.

Answer 4

In high school I had the benefit of being one of the most athletic people. So, really, if you can prove yourself athletically, then people no longer question you. I imagine that all the vegan bodybuilders and athletes out there do not get bothered at all.

Ignorance is bliss and no one likes to have their imaginary world intruded upon. You are a walking reminder that there are people out there that do not believe that ignorance is bliss.

Some of us go to the grocery store and wonder where all this stuff comes from, who grew it, and what did they grow it with, and how are the workers treated, and why is it imported when we can grow it locally, and... but most people do not like to think. They to believe in magical things -- that things just appear and that's that. Someone waved their magical wand and created the world, and everything in the world is for humans and for the taking. Just like shopping at the store... just take take take, pay your money, and leave. Go to the forest, take take take, and leave. Scoop up all the animals and take take take and leave.

They don't want to think about how the animals scream and kick as blood gushes out of them -- the terror in their eyes -- the thought of the same thing happening to them....

Look at the movie The Matrix. Humans used as cows, milking them of their energy, using them like batteries. Apparently that was something worth fighting against. But why? They were living in their fantasy world like happy cows in the field, why fight against that just for the reward of their grim reality? Because I don't think that humans really want to live in fantasy world. Unfortunately, most would rather plug their ears and say, "La la la la la..." and this seems to be what the masses always do to themselves.

Historically thinkers are the ones prosecuted. Say the world is round and not flat -- find yourself murdered. Nothing has changed.

Answer 5

Vegans are misconstrued as being inherently militant, self righteous, proselytizing, douchebags. No offense to you, but I have found most vegans to be totally stuck up @$$holes. I know however, that there are probably just as many, if not more, really cool, down to earth, friendly vegans like yourself (I'm making the assumption that you're one of these types rather than the former) Not everyone is able to make that distinction however.

Not eating meat also limits the choices of restaurants you can attend with friends and it limits foods you can share with them and the like. Eating is an act of communion. Most meat eaters feel isolated and apart from when they are in the company of vegans. It's alienating.

I'm not a vegan or a vegetarian, but I don't eat beef... therefore my eating habbits aren't quite as limited as yours. What I do, is I just don't tell people that I don't eat red meat. If you order salads and steamed vegetables, people aren't really going to be weirded out by that.

It's when you bring it to other peoples' attention, when you begin to risk looking like a snob. Why does anyone else need to know? If someone offers you a steak... just say, "no thank you, I've never cared for steak." instead of, "No, I love animals and I don't support their needless gruesome deaths by eating their mutilated carcasses." (I'm sure you have a more tactful way of saying it but that's just an example)

That's all. If someone is being a jerk and totally forcing the meat down your throat... just take a bite and be done with it... say you don't like it and they will back off. One bite of meat every now and then won't clog your arteries enough to warrant a quadrouple bypass surgery and I think that Porkchop and the rest of the animal kingdom will find it in their hearts to forgive you.

Answer 6

Tell them it is a free country and if they can't appreciate that, go try to live in a communism for a week or two. I'm proud to be an American because I have the right to choose what I want to be/do/say/wear etc, and I even get to choose whose opinions matter to me. Isn't it great being able to ignore those who judge us? By the way, there are many advantages to a vegan diet, as you probably know, but don't feel you have to explain this to people unless you want to and they want to learn. You won't feel so much pressure once you learn to decipher who has a real interest in your lifestyle, from those that are just looking for a debate.

Answer 7

The masses feel threatened by anyone who is "different". Being vegan makes, in my opinion, people feel guilty. They don't like to think they are eating flesh. If flesh is so good why does it have to be so doctored up to make it palatable ? Why don't they just eat it raw ? As for being lesbian, again, some people are just homo-phobic. Narrow minded, small minds. I have 2 friends who are lesbian and they are the gentlest, kindest people I know. Don't get bothered by these people who want to make you into their idea of what is "normal".

Answer 8

I am both a vegan and an environmentalist and I agree that there are alot of closed minded people out on this beautiful planet that judge me every day for my way of life. I tell them that I simply believe in a healthy all natural way of living that centers me both physically and spiritually. I am concerned for you though because just as it is natural for us humans to be one with the Earth and live the vegan lifestyle, it is also natural for us to take a mate. Science has shown that when man goes against his instincts by eating meat or creating plastic his body becomes acidic and unhealthy. The same science has shown that a homosexual lifestyle also causes the same symptoms with hard data gathered from extensive testing on monkeys and other unintelligent creatures. Perhaps it is this natural/unnatural hypocrisy that you are flaunting out to the public that causes them to question whether or not you possess any degree of human logic.

Answer 9

I experience it all of the time, at first it used to get to me. I have been vegetarian for the last 14 years and live in a small village on a small Greek Island. If you have any idea about small Greek villages you can imagine, especially as I am not Greek. People here can just not understand the fact that I choose not to eat meat, but more so that I don't eat fish. I used to explain myself now I just tell them Its because I don't want to full stop. Just be strong in yourself and your choices, don't let them get to you, everyone lives their lives differently and other people should just respect that. I've got a bigger problem now I am becoming a Buddhist, can you imagine?
A foreign vegetarian Buddhist living in a small Greek village, lol I love it. Be proud of who you are, if people have a problem with who you are, it's their problem not yours - Be Strong.

Answer 10

omg i've had this same problem heres what i say. " in American culture, horses and dogs are companions to human beings, not food, in some cultures they are food. In my culture (as in my own PERSONAL culture that i follow) i regard all the animals on this earth as my companion and my equal, not as food.

then when ppl argue that caveman ate meat so shouldnt it be ur natural instinct? then im like "well i think caveman messed up, because our real ancestors, the apes were pretty much vegetarian" ---no offense if u dont believe in evolution or something

and some people argue that u dont get enough protein. tell them "you have to eat the right kinds of veg food, not white bread and potatoes, and u should have enough protein to live a healthy life" and u can use elephants as an example of strong animals that live long even if they're vegetarian.

Answer 11

If people can't relate, they don't know what to say. Many times they stick their foot in their mouths by saying something stupid. When they can't change themselves to relate to you, they often have a desire to change you so they can feel more comfortable with you, simply because they care about you and want to be closer. When they can't get comfortable with you they get awkward and say dumb stuff or nothing at all.

I have food allergies and get the same treatment, as if I have a choice about what I eat. But it's human nature, the people who care about me want to feel close and comfortable, but it's hard to do when I'm out of the ordinary.