Vegetarians aren't oppressing you
Got another "funny" meme in my feed about how it's so goddamn hilarious when vegetarians want an option
The gist of it was that the meme pretended to be a text conversation between a meat-eater and a vegetarian, and the meat-eater invited the vegetarian to a cookout. The vegetarian asked if they can bring veggie burgers and whether they can keep a part of the grill where meat is not cooked. And the meat-eater then told him the cookout was now canceled because someone died.
This was shared by one of those haw haw haw FRIGGING VEGETARIANS meme pages and like . . . even the fake conversation they made up was reasonable. It isn't unreasonable for vegetarians to query about whether they will be able to eat at a party. The "lol vegetarians" post literally even had the vegetarian volunteering to bring the veggie burgers, and all of it was polite, and none of it was fabricated to look shrill (as they love to pretend we are just salivating to attack meat-eaters for being carnivores; I promise, if we feel that way, we don't want to come to the cookout at all).
I have experienced this same level of "wow you're unreasonable for wanting a vegetarian option THAT YOU VOLUNTEER TO BRING/COOK" many, many times. It all seems to go back to "UGH THESE FUCKING PEOPLE DON'T EAT MEAT AND THEY *SHOULD* BECAUSE *I* LIKE MEAT, SO I INTERPRET THEIR REQUESTS FOR ACCOMMODATION AS CRITICAL OF MY LIFESTYLE AND I WOULD RATHER LIE THAT SOMEONE DIED THAN HAVE THIS FUCKING VEGAN AT MY TABLE"
(And you'll notice, they usually call us vegans, even when we're vegetarians who are not vegan. And they'll often assign us more strict dietary restrictions than we actually have, and insist that we require them, and sometimes even insist that we will forbid THEM to eat objectionable food around us, even if we don't.)
There was that lovely kerfuffle recently about people attacking a major restaurant for being "woke" because they added a vegetarian meat option to the menu. They literally threw tantrums on social media and threatened to boycott because a restaurant accommodated someone else with absolutely no change to what was available to them. They are suddenly aggrieved, acting like THEY have been denied or oppressed, because someone else's needs or preferences were addressed IN ADDITION to theirs.
I'm really sick of people acting like vegetarians are imposing on them by existing or by having different eating habits, and I'm sick of them responding to our attempts to meet our own needs with rants about how good meat is or how we're supposed to eat it or how we're unhealthy for not eating it or how we must think we're healthier because we don't eat it or how we must think we're better than them because we don't eat it or how our eating choices somehow communicate our politics, values, or position on a variety of issues.
Like, if you invite a vegetarian to your cookout? That's literally what we'll probably do. Bring our own veggie burgers or hope there's salad we can eat. There is no need to become hostile and then act like we committed a sin.
The gist of it was that the meme pretended to be a text conversation between a meat-eater and a vegetarian, and the meat-eater invited the vegetarian to a cookout. The vegetarian asked if they can bring veggie burgers and whether they can keep a part of the grill where meat is not cooked. And the meat-eater then told him the cookout was now canceled because someone died.
This was shared by one of those haw haw haw FRIGGING VEGETARIANS meme pages and like . . . even the fake conversation they made up was reasonable. It isn't unreasonable for vegetarians to query about whether they will be able to eat at a party. The "lol vegetarians" post literally even had the vegetarian volunteering to bring the veggie burgers, and all of it was polite, and none of it was fabricated to look shrill (as they love to pretend we are just salivating to attack meat-eaters for being carnivores; I promise, if we feel that way, we don't want to come to the cookout at all).
I have experienced this same level of "wow you're unreasonable for wanting a vegetarian option THAT YOU VOLUNTEER TO BRING/COOK" many, many times. It all seems to go back to "UGH THESE FUCKING PEOPLE DON'T EAT MEAT AND THEY *SHOULD* BECAUSE *I* LIKE MEAT, SO I INTERPRET THEIR REQUESTS FOR ACCOMMODATION AS CRITICAL OF MY LIFESTYLE AND I WOULD RATHER LIE THAT SOMEONE DIED THAN HAVE THIS FUCKING VEGAN AT MY TABLE"
(And you'll notice, they usually call us vegans, even when we're vegetarians who are not vegan. And they'll often assign us more strict dietary restrictions than we actually have, and insist that we require them, and sometimes even insist that we will forbid THEM to eat objectionable food around us, even if we don't.)
There was that lovely kerfuffle recently about people attacking a major restaurant for being "woke" because they added a vegetarian meat option to the menu. They literally threw tantrums on social media and threatened to boycott because a restaurant accommodated someone else with absolutely no change to what was available to them. They are suddenly aggrieved, acting like THEY have been denied or oppressed, because someone else's needs or preferences were addressed IN ADDITION to theirs.
I'm really sick of people acting like vegetarians are imposing on them by existing or by having different eating habits, and I'm sick of them responding to our attempts to meet our own needs with rants about how good meat is or how we're supposed to eat it or how we're unhealthy for not eating it or how we must think we're healthier because we don't eat it or how we must think we're better than them because we don't eat it or how our eating choices somehow communicate our politics, values, or position on a variety of issues.
Like, if you invite a vegetarian to your cookout? That's literally what we'll probably do. Bring our own veggie burgers or hope there's salad we can eat. There is no need to become hostile and then act like we committed a sin.