Deepak Saxena wrote:

> Hmm..I seem to have lost my point somewhere along the way. I guess it's
> that as soon as you label yourself, you've opened yourself up to other
> people's expectations. For example, as soon as someone says they are
> a republican or a democrat, you have certain expectations about their
> behaviour, lifestyle, and beliefs. Same goes with calling oneself a
> vegetarian. Once you label yourself as one, everyone is going to have
> their own expectations of what you do and do not eat.


Yes. I agree. But I also think that labels and categories are useful.
For example, I'm not now vegetarian myself, but I'm fully capable of
putting together a good vegan or vegetarian meal for friends who are.
I'd certainly hope new friends would tell me they were vegetarian before
arriving at my home so I could plan the meal accordingly. Rather than
go through a long list of foods they'd rather not eat (beef, pork,
rabbit, duck, chicken, turkey, etc.), it is a lot easier if they say
"we're ovo-lacto vegetarians." That way I WOULD have an expectation of
what they do and do not eat, a fairly accurate one.

It is the same with folks who keep kosher. Taken individually, their
requests might sound random. Give me the umbrella term "kosher," and I
have a good idea of what that entails, maybe not exact since individuals
keep kosher to different degrees, but pretty close.

--Lia