The Meat Of The Matter

*Originally published in Stephens Life Magazine, Spring 2018, see on issuu here.

The Meat of the Matter: The toxic masculinity of meat + how a plant-based diet can be an act of feminism

Does meat consumption equate with masculinity? Recent survey results might lead one to believe that. Only 21 percent of vegans are men, according to a survey from the blog “The Vegan Truth”. Veganism has otherwise spread rapidly in the U.S. Three years ago, just 1 percent of the population identified as vegans. Today, it is six percent according to a recent report by “GlobalData.” However, the movement is largely feminine. So where are the men and why are they so against a vegan lifestyle?

Being a red-blooded man in America is manning the barbecue, watching the game with the boys over some Buffalo Wild Wings right off the bone and driving over to a Hardee’s after being enticed by a swimsuit-clad Paris Hilton, covered in suds on top of a car, devouring a juicy burger.

Being male in the U.S. also means having a shorter average lifespan than women. High meat consumption is associated with increased risks of cancer, heart disease, strokes, diabetes, obesity, and impotence, according to the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

In American culture, compassion is feminized and violence and non-emotions are masculinized. Being “a man” often means throwing a swing at the guy at the end of the bar who keeps looking at you funny, laughing with your boys about ghosting that last one-night stand and never ever letting someone see you cry. It is no wonder that a compassionate vegan diet is widely considered to be “just for girls.”

I cannot begin to recount to you the amount of times men have, without being provoked, condemned me and insulted me for choosing a meatless life. They tend to diminish my choices to justify their own, even throwing in a, “Well that’s why you’re so skinny, you need more protein!”

I’m not a snowflake, I’m not triggered by everything and I’m not a dirty hippie. I just want to live the cleanest, healthiest lifestyle possible based on extensive research conducted. The idea that animals were meant for our exploitation and consumption is just as antiquated to me, as the idea that women are inferior to men.

Our society has a way of enforcing ideals that women should be diet-abiding, calorie restricting and conscious of remaining of a certain physique. On the other hand, dietary restrictions for men are invisible and there’s no stigma in seeing an overweight man inhaling a double-patty burger.

Why is it that a man who cooks is such a catch but a woman’s culinary expertise is to be expected? This gendered eating is harmful for men and “meat is manly” stereotypes can increase risks for previously mentioned health problems. It’s no wonder that the World Health Organization reports that women live longer than men in every country.

But some are trying to change the status quo, Matt and Phil Letten are the widely successful entrepreneurs, “The Vegan Bros.” These two brothers are everything your preconceived notions of “vegan” are not. They’re muscular, they’re loud and they swear. A lot.

They said that they launched their vegan bros brand, including a website, social media and soonto-be published book, to usher in the age of the new vegan. They noted that where there used to be stereotypes of the past, nowadays you have people of all walks of life joining the movement: a cross section of society.

These brothers acknowledge that traditionally, women have lead the movement, “Women have dominated the veganism for years. Women are allowed to be more in touch with their emotional side. And they have lead the charge into this compassionate movement.”

But now it’s time for the men to embrace new definitions of manliness, Matt said: “Being a man is to understand yourself. To look inside. To know yourself better. To get in touch with your emotions so that you can negotiate the world better and help others.”

“The lie is that you’re a man if you eat meat. But here’s the truth. The truth is as we’ve evolved as humans and our consciousness evolves what’s the truth,” Matt said. “You are a man if you protect as many as you can. If you expand your protection, your compassion to as many as possible, how fucking manly is that shit? It’s like, fuck no, you’re not hurting them and I’m not gonna contribute to it anymore. That’s manly as fuck.”

Hank Rothgerber, professor of psychology at Bellarmine University, told NBC News he believes meat is deeply ingrained in American men as a perception of masculinity. He explained: “Meat consumption is a symbol of patriarchy resulting from its long-held alliance with manhood, power and virility.”

Rothgerber penned an article titled “Real Men Don’t Eat (Vegetable) Quiche: Masculinity and the Justification of Meat Consumption” in the journal “Psychology of Men & Masculinity.” In this article, he conducted a survey to find out why people continue to eat meat despite the growing knowledge of its negative effects on health and the environment. He found that men justified eating meat through a denial of animal suffering and a more hierarchical view on humans over animals in the world.

In Rothgerber’s article, he refers back to Carol J. Adams as the founder of the connection between vegetarianism and feminism. Adams laid the groundwork for Rothgerber’s theory in her book “The Sexual Politics of Meat” published in 1990. The New York Times later referred to her book as “a bible of the vegan community,” and praised it for its new outlook on meat, sexism and the interrelation between the two.

Adams’ website states, “The Sexual Politics of Meat argues that male dominance and animals’ oppression are linked by the way that both women and animals function as absent referents in meat eating and dairy production, and that feminist theory logically contains a vegan critique...just as veganism covertly challenges patriarchal society.”

The book discusses the theory of “the absent referents,” in which the human separates the violence of meat eating with the pleasure of meat eating by not seeing the meat on their plate as what it is: meat on a plate. This is similar to the theory of cognitive dissonance, where humans know the facts of certain things, but choose to turn a blind eye.

I think it’s safe to say that everyone knows a hamburger was once a cow and that chicken nuggets were once a chicken, but meat-eaters don’t want to acknowledge that connection, perhaps out of discomfort.

Adams also coined a “trinity of forces” that combine the link between meat and sexism. These forces are Objectification, when we no longer see someone as someone; Fragmentation, when we cut that being up; and Consumption, where we consume the being. With these forces, she connects the literal consumption of animals and the all-too familiar visual consumption of women through the male gaze.

All beings should be recognized as a whole instead of a sum of their parts. When you go to a diner and order a side of bacon, you order a pig. By renaming it bacon, we are able to ignore that it came from the meat of the belly-side of a pig.

Women are all too used to being identified as object, or sexualized for parts of them; breasts, behind, legs, overall physical appearance. To some, it’s easier to see a woman as these parts of a whole, rather than the multi-faceted being that she is.

These examples aren’t meant to make a blanket statement suggesting the men aren’t feminists. They just highlight that, for many, veganism and animal rights tend to align with feminism and human rights, something women are more likely to live out and notice on a day-to-day basis.

Is meat consumption perpetuating patriarchy? Are men in our society simply raised and conditioned to enjoy meat and stick up their noses at salads? Cooking isn’t feminine. Eating consciously isn’t feminine. and being health and environmentally aware aren’t feminine.

We must change the way meat is seen and consumed, and work to alter how diet choices are perceived as feminine or masculine. We all can benefit from a happier planet, a cleaner dinner plate and increased equality.