What is your personal stereotype of a parent that would ridicule their child?!
What I'm asking is in your own eyes, describe that parent.
Answers: if the child expressed their wishes to be a vegetarian?
What I'm asking is in your own eyes, describe that parent.
Ignorant, stupid, arrogant, insensitive, over-protective, loving
Of course, not ALL of these terms apply to everyone. And it depends on what you mean by 'ridicule' - a somewhat misinformed parent with otherwise good intentions who goes "but honey, you need iron!" is not the same as Mr. Joe Hunter who goes "either you gonna eat that beef chili or no food for you, wannabe hippie". Sadly, there are many people like the second type.
Caring in a dumb founded way.
Its the sterio type of a submissive mother and a loud over oppinionated father who makes statements that vegetarian is rabbit food, unhealthy, bloody expensive, cant live on it etc. Its the statements made by either parent such as
"trust you to be so stupid as to want to be a vegetarian"
"Always following your friends- if they jumped off a roof would you?
"I know of a friends daughter who went on one of them weird diets and their hair fell out"
"You need protein and the only protein is meat"
"animals are meant to be eaten says in the bible"
"All these tree huggers would not know sh.t from clay unless they tasted it"
"These minority groups say anything to win ya over listen to me I know whats good for you'
"While you are in my house you will eat whta you are given'.
If the child REALLY wanted to be a vegetarian and the parent dismised his or her wishes just because of their own reasons(whatever they may be) they would seem very closed minded to me. No sterotypes come to mind...just kind of closed minded is all...not to even consider letting the child become a vegetarian seems a bit harsh too.
If the parent did do their reasearch and still didn't think it was an appropriate thing for their child to do for certain reasons...like health then well...the parent does know their child best...and it's the parents decision up untill they get to a certain age. SOMETIMES it's not a good idea for a child to become a vegetarian. Like if the child is constantly eating junkfood...then the child may not be in such good health when they become one. Cookies and candy are veg...and if that's the main thing they are going to eat while veg*n well then..it's not such a good idea.
NOW this is all based on if the child was old enough to make good informed decisions like this one. If the child constantly went through weird phases alot or just the norm. If they had come up with a really good reason for wanting to do so....if the reason were I don't know..they may just be trying to fit in or whatever and 9 times out of 10 those who do it for reasons such as that stay a veg just a few days...maybe a couple of weeks. It would all really depend on the child to be honest.
When I read questions from kids here that don't know what to do because their parents don't think they shoud go veg or they make fun of them or they don't understand or whatever the case may be, I usually assume they are just as ignorant as most of the world, as ignorant as I once was. People who don't understand something usually just blow it off. I would describe them as pretty normal.
I don't think anyone has the right to force someone to eat meat, just as I don't force my daughter to be vegetarian. I just think it would be very sad for a young person who didn't want to eat animals to be forced to do so because of ignorance on the parent's part- and I do think it's ignorance.
umm... well my parents were in disbelief. they're big meateaters, and they were frustrated. but i held through! yes! but i'd say that parent would be concerned, curious (a little), a bit angry, but would mostly make the child (me) feel like crap for a while.
I don't think it's a stereotype, but such a parent would be one who did not expect their child to make choices and decisions for themselves, and did not respect the opinions, choices or decisions their child made.
Disrespectful, I guess is the main word that springs to mind.
I would say the same about a veg*n parent who ridiculed, or dismissed, their child's decision to eat meat.
I agree with Andro's stereotype of the concerned mother ("Where will you get your protein?" "I just want you to be healthy.", etc.), and Gypsy's stereotype of the conservative, overbearing father ("No son of mine's gonna be eatin' that sissy food." "Why you wanna be like them hippies?" "Don't you want to be a man?", etc).
I had a mixed experience, but it definitely went down gender lines. My mother did not understand, but was very supportive as was my sister, who apparently had a veg phase in High School as well.
My father and brother, however, were merciless. I was teased constantly, and every meal was a battle. If my mom made a separate dish for me, they would yell at me for being selfish and making her do extra work. If she couldn't make anything else and I didn't eat much, they would tell me I was being ungrateful and disrespectful to her. I got called gay and "f.a.g." a lot, and so on.
Wow, that's totally not what you asked for. Anyway, to answer the question, my biggest stereotype is that the dad is the more cruel and judgmental.
I just have one word: Ignorance
Assuming a parent loves their child, they should always be willing to listen to them. They need to get involved and research on whatever their child's concern is rather than dismiss them because they are not informed. The majority I say are just "ignorant" because instead of becoming informed they would rather be lazy or stubborn.
children shouldn't be ridiculed or even just dismissed by their parents. Parents have a job to educate and help their child develop into themselves. Parents are here to nurture, guide, and even learn from their children.
Yes I first hand know no one is perfect and all parents mess up that in itself is also a great teaching opportunity.
I think if a parent dismisses their child that shows an interest in something either the kid will rebel and go further towards what their parent shows contempt towards. Or they will stop trying to follow their desires and just give up.
I don't think either one of these will get either parent or child what they really want, need and desire.
Seems like one of the more frequent questions on this board is how do i tell my parents/ how do i convince my parents to help me. Seems to me that at some point or another you are going to find yourself in a 'what i am doing and why' type of conversation and convincing your parents that 1- you mean it 2- that you have looked into the dietary elements of it and know how to stay healthy while doing it an 3- that you have a full understanding of what you are about to undertake- can be a good sort of dry run for people who arent quite sure what they are doing and why to start doing their research and to start being smarter healthier vegetarians.
Personally in my life, when i made the jump i was long moved out and both my parents were supportive so it wasnt much of an issue. Although when my grandma did decided to make me a turkey when she learned what i was doing, but i found that to be endearingly passive agressive old lady stuff and it made me happy that she was concerned.
ignorant