Thursday 25 October 2007

What does a vegan cook look like?

One of the topics in today's statement on the Governance of Britain was the right to protest near Parliament. This was reported in a front page "Guardian"story by reference to the conviction of Maya Anne Evans, "a vegan cook from Hastings" for reading out the names of British casualties in Iraq outside Downing Street.

This unnecessary level of detail immediately conjured up for me an image of a middle-aged woman, her hair in long plaits, almost certainly wearing a chunky knit jumper, saggy tights and brightly-coloured shoes, with suitably "ethnic" jewellery and an earnest air. I've since Googled her, and she looks nothing like that. I've been a vegan for 16 years and I look nothing like that. Not quite sure where I'm going with this, other than to reprimand myself for sharing the prejudices of many folk out there!

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