“They’re just going to think that you’re a whackjob.”

Q&A With Katie of Don’t Eat Off the Sidewalk | Jewcy.com:

There’s a fringe group of vegans being dubbed “vegan-sexuals,” who abstain from physical intimacy with non-vegans. What are your thoughts on this?
It’s infuriating, because this is the kind of stuff that gets a lot of media attention. The general public doesn’t want to hear that vegans are happy and healthy, they want to hear about how we’re elitist snobs who are picky about who we sleep with and that we starve our children. It confirms their belief that vegans are an insane little cult. I’d like to see some mainstream news stories that shatter that stereotype.

It makes sense that a person who is vegan might not want to be in a long term relationship with an omnivore, but to say that you won’t even have sex with one? Where do you draw the line? Can you not be friends with people who eat meat?

I believe in the saying that you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar. If you tell someone you won’t sleep with them because they’re not vegan, they’re not going to think about their diet. They’re just going to think that you’re a whackjob.

Interesting interview. I bought issue #1 of Don’t Eat Off the Sidewalk (now sold out — nyah nyah) and loved it. I just ordered issue #2.
She’s completely right about the media – it seems like it’s a pretty standard technique. You take the “whackjobs” — I nearly spit tea when I read that one — and use them to conveniently marginalize the whole group. It’s not they’re not whackjobs, it’s that they’re not really representative. Though think about it for a minute – there are any number of religions with dietary restrictions, and no one would suggest that there’s anything wrong with their wanting to associate with people who follow the same guidelines. Food is a pretty basic part of life, after all, and it’s a lot easier to deal with if your family’s all on the same culinary page. Certainly most people wouldn’t refer to them as “insane little cults.”

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