I know exactly how you feel, Cheryl!  My parents 
give me a hard time about it, and my roommate 
thinks I'm insane.  She rolls her eyes every 
time "cels" or "anime" is mentioned.  

Of course, the irritating thing about that is 
that despite the fact that she makes no secret of 
her disdain, she has a room full of cabbage patch 
dolls.  Oh, but don't call them "dolls."  You can 
get kicked out of the Cabbage Patch Kid 
convention for that.  They're "babies."   

(Must remember mantra:  to each their own, to 
each their own...)

At any rate, I live in a very rural state, and 
nobody here knows very much about anime or cels 
or art in general.  Most of my friends upon 
hearing that I watch anime have one of the 
following reactions:  

1.  "You watch cartoons?"
2.  "Oh, you mean like Pokemon?"
3.  "Oh, you mean like that porno stuff?  My 
boyfriend watches that."  -_-*

...and my personal favorite:
4.  "That is so weird.  How did you get into 
THAT?"

Ja!
~Anne, who feels only slightly persecuted *laughs*