主張を押し付けたがる人達 ― organic mommy mafia

私の周辺には幸いにしてあまりいませんが、自分の主義主張を押し付けたがる特殊な人達が存在します。

自分が良いと思ったものを他人にも勧める人達です。勧めることによってその人自身の金銭的な利益になる場合もあればそうでない場合もあるかと思いますが、いずれにしても押し付けられる方としては厄介なものです。


"Am I going to be an outcast?" A friend, who recently moved to an upscale neighborhood in Madison, Wis., called me last week to ask if she would be able to make mommy friends if she continued feeding her children — gasp! — non-organic food.

She had just come back from the park where two mothers were discussing a recent vacation to a resort in Puerto Rico. One told the other that there, for the first time, her toddler was given Jif peanut butter. He loved it. Prior to that he had only had Whole Foods peanut butter, which (one might guess) pales in comparison for a 3-year-old palate.

When the boy came home and asked for more Jif, his mother told him it wasn't available — that it was "Puerto Rican peanut butter."
Wrapped up in that phrase is all of the arrogance and class snobbery of the organic-food mafia. If these moms haven’t come to your neighborhood yet, just wait.
(Naomi Schaefer Riley. The tyranny of the organic mommy mafia. New York Post. April 19, 2014.)


有機栽培農作物は体に良い食べ物であることに間違いはないと思いますが、有機栽培以外は食べるに値しないというような主張を押し付けるのはかなり乱暴です。

"organic mommy mafia"とは、有機栽培による食品を崇め奉る“世のお母様方”を指します。

ここで、"mafia"という単語を取り上げたいと思います。

“マフィア”、イコール“ヤクザ”、つまり物騒ですが、"organic mommy mafia"という表現に見られるように、"mafia"は暴力的な団体を示すのではなく、


a group of people likened to the Mafia; especially : a group of people of similar interests or backgrounds prominent in a particular field or enterprise
(Merriam-Webster Dictionary)


とあるように、特定の主義主張を標榜する人々の集まりを表現するのに使われています。