Hi Rainbow,I'm new to the forum but a long time vegan, I went vegan about 14 years ago and was vegetarian for many years before that. However my Husband is far from either, when we met I was vegetarian and was not so 'passionate ' shall we say about animal welfare and still bought and cooked him some meat, now however I will not even buy it for him. He has close friends who think veganism is 'extreem'. He will NEVER go vegan, and it really upsets me. It doesnt matter what I tell him, what I show him, no matter what he reads or sees he does not change his opinion of 'yeah its not nice but its life and it tastes good' I hate to say but I do resent him. I do not understand how a 'good' person can see the absolute horror and witness the terror and suffering of these poor beings and still selfishly put them in their mouth? It is a huge issue with us to be honest. My children are both vegan and it deeply upsets them that Daddy kills animals. At the dinner table they were playing the what would you rather game and asked him 'be vegan for life or have to go and murder the animals yourself' and he said 'I don't think you want to know the answer".
This is really sad to read.
I wonder if I get it right: does your husband let his close friends convince him? If his friends think veganism is 'extreem' then he would just conform to the "norms"?
I have heard this 'too extreem' thing, multiple times, and I just cannot get how not exploiting animals is extreme. Not only abstaining from getting them killed, but also avoiding to get them raped, or to steal from them.... how is that too extreme?
I do think you have every reason on earth to resent him for that. It's not life. It's death and violence. And, who cares how "good" it tastes?
If it was meat itself that tasted so good, then why do people season it with plants?
Please allow me to be a little critical: I don't find his answer very brave. He obviously didn't say so because he would care so much about your feelings, or those of your children. My impression is that he probably found it too uncomfortable and awkward to pronounce "I would sure as hell murder animals to eat them!" Maybe deep inside he has conscience issues. Maybe he understands it's not right, but for some reasons he insists on being such a notorious carnist. Maybe he considers it to be an important part of his self-image?
I hope this wasn't too rude of me! Since I don't know him, everything I am saying here is just assumptions.
I know this wasn't explicitly mentioned in this thread, but by reading the posts, I've gotten the impression that there are many men who are still obsessed with this "real men eat meat" myth. I have never experienced it to be like this: "don't you feel macho enough? Go eat a huge steak, it will give you the necessary boost to feel yourself the Crown (tm) of Creation (c) (r)!"
I personally don't think increasing one's risks of getting the ugliest forms of cancer, high blood pressure and heart attack would make one very masculine.
BTW the medieval Templars weren't allowed to eat meat more often than three times a week. Their leaders did understand "eating meat weakens the soul" and so they made this rule. (I think this was very modern, considering the usual attitude in the Middle Ages...) Were they not real men?
Also, there are many women who eat meat... isn't that confusing?
