In regards to eating meat

[Diana]

The threat doesn't have to be from a suppressed sense of guilt. There are plenty of other reasons to feel threatened. Someone who feels an innate sense of judgement from a vegetarian isn't necessarily feeling the judgement because they themselves are guilty about eating meat (even though that is very possible). A lot of people care what anyone thinks about them in any context, and vegetarianism can easily be viewed by a non-vegetarian as a self-proclaimed superior point of view. Also, alternative lifestyles or just being different in any way can rouse emotion as well, it doesn't really matter what the context is.

I have been vegetarian since 1993, so I have a lot of experience with this. I have never been a "preacher." Although I share information if someone asks. (This thread is an example, as the question was asked.)

What I have found, countless, countless times, is that as soon as the fact comes out that I'm vegetarian, the most common reaction--whether obvious or subtle--is defensiveness. This is a result of me saying nothing about it at all beyond the bare fact. It got so bad that my boyfriend, who also went vegetarian at the same time, didn't want me even to say the word in public, he got so much flack.

It is similar, but not so emotional as vegetarianism, when I tell people I don't have a TV. (It comes out when people talk about shows I have never heard of.) Defensiveness is the most common reaction. The people who do not react with defensiveness, are in my opinion, the more indoctrinated types (I don't mean to stereotype, but some people are just less awake and susceptible to media).

One point I would like to make. In this time frame, we do have worldwide reach with information. The information is out there, although admittedly, the amount of information makes it confusing. Slaughterhouses, health, sustainability, are not subjects that people are ignorant of anymore. Perhaps this is a factor in the defensiveness I see.