The bad reputation

[rainforests1]

When I type in the words "vegetarians are" on google, you get words like evil, unhealthy, fat, skinny, dumb, hypocrites, and so annoying(only a few positive ones). When I type in the words "vegans are" on google, I get the words annoying, stupid, idiots, wrong, unhealthy, dumb, retarded, evil, weak, and so annoying(nothing positive). Why do vegetarians and vegans have such a bad reputation?

 

[SummerRain]

I just spent a fun 10 minutes typing different things into google. I've concluded no matter what group of people you type in, it's at least half negative.

"Meat eaters are" comes up with: evil, ignorant and disgusting.
"Christians are" comes up with: wrong, annoying, judgmental.
"Surfers are" comes up with: idiots, stupid, douchebags.

I wouldn't worry about it

 

[Poppy]

Wait, I have a BAD reputation???!!!

 

[peacefulveglady]

Don't surprise me, you cannot please people , They need to get a life if they are offended by Vegans and Vegetarians.

 

[Blobbenstein]

my guess is it might be people googling meme pictures that they can post. Then google keeps a record of people's searches and makes those suggestions.

 

[SuicideBlonde]

Wait, I have a BAD reputation???!!!

I don't give a damn about my bad reputation.

 

[rainforests1]

I thought PETA would get mentioned by now.

I just spent a fun 10 minutes typing different things into google. I've concluded no matter what group of people you type in, it's at least half negative.

"Meat eaters are" comes up with: evil, ignorant and disgusting.
"Christians are" comes up with: wrong, annoying, judgmental.
"Surfers are" comes up with: idiots, stupid, douchebags.

I wouldn't worry about it

So, people are immature?

 

[Second Summer]

I thought PETA would get mentioned by now.

According to google:
peta is ...
evil
stupid
cruel
bad
retarded
crazy
annoying
insane
a joke
********

 

[Amy SF]

According to google:
peta is ...
evil
stupid
cruel
bad
retarded
crazy
annoying
insane
a joke
********

And that's just from their former members.

 

[coralyn]

The world can really be cold hearted. I'm new to being a vegan and everyone I've met so far are probably the best people in the world.

 

[Mikkel]

Politicans are psycopats, liars and the lowest form of life on earth.
The police jerks, pigs and corrupt.
Firemen are heros, cheaters and not heros
Bloggers are stupid, narcisstiss and Google can't decide if their journalists or not.
Doctors aren't that smart and evil.


But dogs are of cause cool!

 

[Clueless Git]

If you are held in ill repute by those of ill repute ...

Well, that's even better than having a good reputation amongst those of good repute, isn't it?

 

[Moll Flanders]

I think vegans and vegetarians do have a "bad reputation" with some people because their lifestyle goes against the majority and some people feel threatened by anything different. I think some meat eaters tend to be defensive and find it easier to ridicule the veg lifestyle.

I was watching a talk show recently and a person on the panel announced that she wasn't a vegetarian and some people in the audience applauded.

It seems to me that vegans and vegetarians do generally seem like the type of people who have their own views and don't want feel the need to fit in as much. Or maybe that's just the way I am and I'm projecting.

 

[das_nut]

When I type in the words "vegetarians are" on google, you get words like evil, unhealthy, fat, skinny, dumb, hypocrites, and so annoying(only a few positive ones). When I type in the words "vegans are" on google, I get the words annoying, stupid, idiots, wrong, unhealthy, dumb, retarded, evil, weak, and so annoying(nothing positive). Why do vegetarians and vegans have such a bad reputation?

Because the most extreme members tend to be the most vocal, and if the group's in a minority, knowledge of their views is more likely to spread.

It's like how everyone knows about the Westboro Baptist Church even though they are a tiny minority. They have the energy of zealots, and because their views are so wacko, it tends to be picked up in news stories and blogs.

 

[rainforests1]

Because the most extreme members tend to be the most vocal, and if the group's in a minority, knowledge of their views is more likely to spread.

It's like how everyone knows about the Westboro Baptist Church even though they are a tiny minority. They have the energy of zealots, and because their views are so wacko, it tends to be picked up in news stories and blogs.

I think all movements have some people that are much more extreme than others, but primarily vegetarians only(possibly feminists as well) have a bad reputation. The Civil Rights movement and environmental movements both have members that could be considered much more extreme but they still have a decent to good reputation.

 

[Calliegirl]

I think all movements have some people that are much more extreme than others, but primarily vegetarians only(possibly feminists as well) have a bad reputation. The Civil Rights movement and environmental movements both have members that could be considered much more extreme but they still have a decent to good reputation.

I think Civil Rights probably have a decent reputation, but not environmentalists. I usually hear them referred to as treehuggers or eco-terrorists.

Google says they are:
idiots
hypocrites
annoying
enemies of development

 

[das_nut]

I think all movements have some people that are much more extreme than others, but primarily vegetarians only(possibly feminists as well) have a bad reputation. The Civil Rights movement and environmental movements both have members that could be considered much more extreme but they still have a decent to good reputation.

The vegetarian/vegan fringe can appear to be crazy. I'm pretty sure that PETA's philosophy is that any publicity is good publicity. Since veg*ns are a minority, I could see the fringe influencing many people's view of veg*ns, since they aren't always likely to take the time to know a veg*n.

Feminism has a crazy fringe that's just wrong. But it used to be that many people identified with feminism, which probably provided a buffer against the crazies. Now with the so-called "third wave" feminism lacking a core doctrine, feminism is becoming like spirituality for Americans - they believe in something, but it's not organized. Still, it seems to provide a buffer, at least for the time being. I could digress with this discussion, since it's one of the areas that fascinates me, but I probably should not.

As for civil rights is something that most people say they are for, so once again, the crazy fringe (perhaps the separatists would be a good example?) tend to be marginalized by people's own beliefs. Environmentalism is the same way - we may not agree with ecoterrorists, but it's not like we're going to start pouring used motor oil down drains either.

To properly marginalize a group, they need to be a minority, ideally a small minority. The group should be based with, or closely associated with an ideology that's somewhat flexible, so that the most extreme members can interpret it their own way. And, ideally, members of the group should be relatively unknown to much of the general population at large.

 

[rainforests1]

I think Civil Rights probably have a decent reputation, but not environmentalists. I usually hear them referred to as treehuggers or eco-terrorists.

Google says they are:
idiots
hypocrites
annoying
enemies of development

I'm just going by my personal experiences. It doesn't seem like environmentalists have a bad reputation at all.

 

[rainforests1]

The vegetarian/vegan fringe can appear to be crazy. I'm pretty sure that PETA's philosophy is that any publicity is good publicity. Since veg*ns are a minority, I could see the fringe influencing many people's view of veg*ns, since they aren't always likely to take the time to know a veg*n.

Feminism has a crazy fringe that's just wrong. But it used to be that many people identified with feminism, which probably provided a buffer against the crazies. Now with the so-called "third wave" feminism lacking a core doctrine, feminism is becoming like spirituality for Americans - they believe in something, but it's not organized. Still, it seems to provide a buffer, at least for the time being. I could digress with this discussion, since it's one of the areas that fascinates me, but I probably should not.

As for civil rights is something that most people say they are for, so once again, the crazy fringe (perhaps the separatists would be a good example?) tend to be marginalized by people's own beliefs. Environmentalism is the same way - we may not agree with ecoterrorists, but it's not like we're going to start pouring used motor oil down drains either.

To properly marginalize a group, they need to be a minority, ideally a small minority. The group should be based with, or closely associated with an ideology that's somewhat flexible, so that the most extreme members can interpret it their own way. And, ideally, members of the group should be relatively unknown to much of the general population at large.

Before I became interested in animal rights, I was unfamiliar with PETA. Animal rights is not discussed by the media very much, and therefore PETA is generally ignored. Unless you follow the news very closely or have done searches for PETA, you probably won't be familiar with their campaigns. It's possible PETA has had an impact, but I don't think it's very great.

I posted a poll a while back that showed 90% of Americans think farm animals deserve some respect. Americans do have some agreements with vegetarians, and some agreements with environmentalists. The general public also has disagreements with both vegetarians and environmentalists. Polls have generally shown environmental issues are unimportant to most Americans. I don't think Americans can relate to environmentalists any better than they can vegetarians.

 

[Clueless Git]

It's possible PETA has had an impact, but I don't think it's very great.

I think it may have been on VB ...

A 'what first made you go veg*an' poll had something ridiculous like 70-80 of all respondents saying it was something produced/published by PETA that first sowed the seed.

Mostly it was the 'Meet Your Meat' video they produced, if I remember correctly.