why do people hate us vegans?
Posted by angela_pickle on May 15, 2009 · Member since Mar 2009 · 2 posts
I don't understand it, why do they think so low of us and act like they're doing better as they eat meat???! >:( Its annoying constantly picked at for eating habits :-[ and being looked at different just because I have self restrain...but again why do they hate us? is it envy??? ???
When you tell people you are vegan you have to understand that you are, in effect, saying "I dont hurt animals, I don't ruin the planet, I don't eat bad stuff AND YOU DO". Not that you are trying to say that I know, but it is how they hear it. Put yourself in the other persons shoes. Your veganism makes them feel defensive, for good reason. They are only doing what in our culture has become "normal" and now they feel ashamed about it so they feel like you are making them feel bad. Most people see 20 burger/fried chicken/junk food commercials a day. Food porn designed to make you want and consume this crap. And junk food is addicting too. Try prying a cigarette out of a friends hands or saying proudly that you don't smoke in front of a group of smokers. They will HATE you, they have to to keep being ok with themselves. Don't be foolish and pit yourselves against them. You can't win if your on the opposite side.
I try to be very upbeat, non-judgmental and pro the benefits of my lifestyle. I tell people how much better I feel, how my husbands cholesterol levels have dropped and how we both just feel so damn happy to be vegans. I stay on their side and focus on the benefits I want them to experience. I don't mention anything intense until they get curious and ask. I am all about getting people to just be curios and intrigued by veganism and that won't happen if they think they are going to feel terrible about themselves. Of course after they get their toes wet they will eventually look at the truth and face it. The difference is that they will have found the truth on their own and listened/watched/read it with a open mind.Also hate and anger are secondary emotions. They come straight from fear. Ease their fears your going to judge them and the hate will melt away.
Herd instinct. Think back to highschool: If it's different, it's wrong. People don't like what they can't understand. And these days most react with hostility. Many folks don't like to be made to think outside their comfort zone.
I'm not vegan, but even as a vegetarian, I get skeptical looks/comments from my so-called friends....I honestly think its because they don't understand the reasoning behind the lifetstyle and have not been educated on the health-ethical benefits. Also, I don't think they realize that when they make snide comments that it actually affects me and makes me feel hurt sometimes.
I think this is less of a 'thing' if we express tolerance and nonjudgment ourselves....if we're going 'ewww meat' to our colleages/relatives/spouses, etc....then they're going to reciprocate with some negativity too I think.... it's really nobody's business ... but to answer your question I don't think it's 'envy'. I think we're looked upon as 'rebels'...I agree with what yabbit said...it's different, outside the social 'norms', and most people act upon automatic rote routines thesedays and don't like to think for themselves.
i will say this too though....i think peta's really stupid *extreme* publicity stunts unfortunately color people's perceptions of vegans and vegetarians and that is usually the extent of the general public's knowledge of 'vegetarians' ::)
I guess I don't notice much hate . Maybe because I am older, 56, and have been vegan for 30 years. When I was younger people may have thought it was just a stage I was going through but now accept the fact that I didn't die from lack of protein and am probably not going to change. I work in the forests of Canada with some pretty tough meat eaters too but when they see that my diet doesn't affect my ability to work but actually enhances it they don't bother me about it. Thinking back to how I handled any negative comments, I was always so sure of my choice that nothing could ever make me feel condemned or wrong or dumb etc. I just had a very positive attitude and never put anybody down for their choices either. Over the years I have seen those around me change in small ways to be not only more accepting but also to begin making changes in their lifestyle choices as well. I suppose time will help you and the people around you to understand why you do as you do.
I think a lot of times people see veganism as a personal attack on their lifestyle. I go to an agriculturally focused Wisconsin school, meaning most of my friends grew up on dairy farms. So when I tell them I don't consume the very things that brings money in for their family, they get a little (well, a lot) defensive. So I try to make it clear that I don't have anything against their farm, it's all the factory farming I have a problem with. That usually makes things go a little smoother, but a lot of times people just don't want to give up the things they have accepted their entire lives.
I think people only see it as an attack on their views because there is such is a stigma with animal activists being somewhat intrusive with their beliefs.
And they can be.
And no one wants to feel guilty about what they're eating. No one wants to admit that meat is animals. That's why it's called "beef" not cow, or "pork" not pig etc etc.
But to some degree, it is an attack on their views. (in my opinion)
It is an active demonstration that "your choices are f*cked"
Because vegans are complicated, picky, holier-than-thou, and weird.
Didn't you know that?
/sarcasm
::)
I guess I don't notice much hate . Maybe because I am older, 56, and have been vegan for 30 years. When I was younger people may have thought it was just a stage I was going through but now accept the fact that I didn't die from lack of protein and am probably not going to change. I work in the forests of Canada with some pretty tough meat eaters too but when they see that my diet doesn't affect my ability to work but actually enhances it they don't bother me about it. Thinking back to how I handled any negative comments, I was always so sure of my choice that nothing could ever make me feel condemned or wrong or dumb etc. I just had a very positive attitude and never put anybody down for their choices either. Over the years I have seen those around me change in small ways to be not only more accepting but also to begin making changes in their lifestyle choices as well. I suppose time will help you and the people around you to understand why you do as you do.
This is totally my experience too--well-said Printer Guy! Except that I've been vegan for more like 18 years. But, don't take it personally if you can help it. They're secretly jealous of your fabulousness and will-power! :)
I was speculating on this earlier actually . My conclusion was that to people who eat meat and get all defensive about it, a burger is a burger. Food is food. It's a very basic level of thought process that most if not all of us have gone through. Veg*ns have analyzed it further. A burger isn't just a burger, it is death, rage, violence, it was a life just like ours, and we no longer feel as though we have a right to take that life when we don't need it, or we feel as though there is a better choice than meat to nourish our bodies. Food has become more than just food to us, it is a choice that has impact on ourselves and on the world, and we have to work to make sure we're making a good choice. When people hear we are different, it means that we are questioning the norm, their norm. When people realize their norm is being questioned by others, they begin questioning it as well, and it makes a lot of people feel very uncomfortable. The idea that they may have to change is scary and unwelcome in a lot of cases, so to avoid change (something that's new and scary) they have to rationalize their current lifestyle. It's easier for them to reject the idea of veg*nism than it is to try to make that set of ideals fit in with the ideals they already have.
In short: cognitive dissonance makes us cranky folk.
People hate us? Aren't veg*ns people too? ;)
I don't think I would call it hate, I would call it not being able to understand. We live a way that most people (well, in "civilized" countries, at least) have been told is unhealthy and not right. That's all. They've been told that their whole life, so they think anything that differs from their lifestyle is not correct. Does that make sense? I hope it does, I have a headache and I'm tired.