When I was vegetarian as a teenager, my mother would do things like secretly cook my fake bacon in bacon fat and then reveal the trick afterwards - “oh that tasted better than usually didn’t it?” The TTI facility I was at for a bit would only provide me with just plates of unseasoned canned vegetables, and then crow about how I didn’t care that much about being veg because I wouldn’t eat just a straight bowl of peas.
I think some of it is a weird discomfort/projection thing, because many meat eaters haven’t really seriously engaged with the ethics of eating meat and the existence of other people who have can be seen as a threat. Again - not all people who eat meat - but I think in a world where we are very abstracted from that process of killing the animal the existence of vegans/vegetarians and their food forces some folks to confront their own cognitive dissonance on the matter.
Sounds like you’ve unfortunately run into a lot of unkind people in general.
I suppose if I really think about it, I have faced some weird toxic masculinity when I’ve order salmon or chicken caesar salad instead of steak but mostly with older people. Similar to getting a drink with an umbrella in it instead of a pint of ale.
It’s a strange phenomenon.
When I was vegetarian as a teenager, my mother would do things like secretly cook my fake bacon in bacon fat and then reveal the trick afterwards - “oh that tasted better than usually didn’t it?” The TTI facility I was at for a bit would only provide me with just plates of unseasoned canned vegetables, and then crow about how I didn’t care that much about being veg because I wouldn’t eat just a straight bowl of peas.
I think some of it is a weird discomfort/projection thing, because many meat eaters haven’t really seriously engaged with the ethics of eating meat and the existence of other people who have can be seen as a threat. Again - not all people who eat meat - but I think in a world where we are very abstracted from that process of killing the animal the existence of vegans/vegetarians and their food forces some folks to confront their own cognitive dissonance on the matter.
Sounds like you’ve unfortunately run into a lot of unkind people in general.
I suppose if I really think about it, I have faced some weird toxic masculinity when I’ve order salmon or chicken caesar salad instead of steak but mostly with older people. Similar to getting a drink with an umbrella in it instead of a pint of ale.
I’m sorry you had to go through that. Sounds awful