The Vegetarian Demographic

There are a lot of assumptions that are made about a person when they divulge the the fact that they are vegetarian. I have heard all kinds of misguided stereotypes. Many people think that vegetarians are all on the fringe of society, not like meat-eating "normal" folk. I find that, when I tell people that I don't eat meat, they come to vastly unrelated conclusions about my political stances. Also, every person from every culture tells me that people of THEIR culture or ethnicity can't possibly be vegetarian because THEY eat so much meat (Americans can't go without steak and potatoes, Hispanics can't go without pork, Caribbean people can't go without chicken...and the list goes on).

Some common misconceptions are:

- Vegetarians are all just rebelling
- Vegetarians are all politically liberal
- Vegetarians are all drug users
- Vegetarians are all malcontents

While, of course, some vegetarians are some or all of the above, the same goes for non-vegetarians. In fact, I have vegetarian friends who occupy some of these characteristics. But I also have carnivorous friends that do, too. Now, I'm not naming names, but here are some celebrities that you may know, who represent many different ends of the cultural spectrum AND all of whom are vegetarian or vegan. You can get see the complete list at http://www.happycow.net/famous_vegetarians.html.