Taste-Shaming

Have you ever tried to justify your taste to others who challenge it? To argue the strengths of a particular movie or restaurant to someone who asks, “Why would you want to see that?” “How could you ever eat there?” Samantha Irby’s “I Like It!” in her essay collection Quietly Hostile (Random House, 2023) rings true to my experience. I'd get defensive when friends told me they liked every kind of music except country, a genre I enjoyed. I'd argue why I drove a novel route instead of the usual, faster one.

Unless you’re an acquisitions editor or a landscape architect looking at practical consequences, it isn’t worth the tension. No need to explain or make excuses. No need to prove your sophistication. Irby says “I like it!” is enough, complete with exclamation point.

Walking an unfamiliar business district with a friend, hungry for our first meal of the day, I pointed to the International House of Pancakes across the street. My companion scowled and said, “Let’s keep looking.” Suspecting unfounded prejudice, I asked, “When did you last eat at an IHOP?” The answer: Not for years.

I now regret my response. Feeling put down for my breakfast preference, I unconsciously tried to put my friend on the defensive in return. We could have agreed on a restaurant without debating our difference in tastes. “I don’t like it” is just as valid as “I like it.”

Image: Looking west down Route 66, Williams, Arizona. Photo by Steven C. Price, 2015.