Women are more likely to go vegan than men, according to a studies and statistics. Is it because feminism and animal rights have always been related?
In 2016, a study by Vegan Society in the UK revealed that twice as many women as men were vegan. Statistics in the US also disclose that 79 percent of vegans in the country are female.
According to Rosie Frost of EuroNews, there is a link between meat and gender. Food hunting and gathering tasks are split into gendered roles. Men were in charge of killing large animals while women would eat smaller portions of meat and seek plant foods.
For chimpanzees, male get a better social status if they are successful in hunting. Meanwhile, a 2018 study emphasized the impact of concepts like “virility” and “power” on the relationship of humans with consuming meat and conventional ideas of being a man.
Dr Michael J Richardson, a lecturer in Human Geography at Newcastle University, is studying the association between meat and masculinities. He says that reactions to the consumption of meat as a challenge to masculinity vary.
“It really depends on who you speak with regarding which defence mechanism they'll draw upon - as in young men who already consider themselves as fit, gym goers and into health and fitness tend to defend their meat heavy diets more adamantly," he said.
“My experience, as a sport-loving, football playing, fit, young, heterosexual white man was entirely expected within the friendship group,” Richardson explains.
“Like any other challenge to the structures of hegemonic masculinities, once 'outed' as vegan, the immediate accusations of weakness and homosexuality come to the fore," he added.
Even if men would be in favor of eating less meat, it can still be a challenging decision, according to a study from the University of Southampton.
“What we have discovered is that many men are interested in eating less meat, they just need social permission to do so – and as more men make vegetarian and vegan choices, that permission is becoming more readily available," said researcher Dr. Emma Roe.
Documentaries like Game Changers are also shaking the status quote. “I do think that the different routes into veganism matter however and can provoke very different responses,” adds Richardson.
Gym-goers and health enthusiasts have become welcoming to newer vegan insights, he says.
“What's important to note about veganism is that the health and fitness angle is only one prong of a trident approach. The other two, of environmentalism and animal rights, carry different weight within these discussions," he noted.
