“Real Men Eat Meat”: Our Gendered View of Vegetarianism
COMMENTARY BY: NEHA VERMA
The popular fast-food chain Hardee’s put out a new commercial this month to promote its latest menu addition – a Jalapeño Turkey Burger. The ad features a muscular man in a tight-fitting shirt, chomping on the burger while the heavy-metal song “The Ultra Violence” by Death Angel blares in the background.
The commercial isn’t the chain’s first male-targeted ad. An older Hardee’s commercial showed Gizem Memic, Miss Turkey 2010 from the Miss Universe Pageant, wearing a bikini printed with turkey burgers.
“To help you remember our new delicious charbroiled turkey burger,” the (male) voice on the commercial says, “we hired Miss Turkey. To help you remember Miss Turkey, we put her into a bikini. And to help you remember Miss Turkey’s bikini, we had it designed with these little tiny pictures of our charbroiled turkey burger.”
It’s no surprise that these commercials attempt to appeal to men, specifically heterosexual men between the ages of 18 and 30.
Meat consumption and masculinity have long been linked in American society, and Hardee’s advertisements utilize this link to suggest that “real men” eat meat and men who abstain from burgers are not masculine enough.
From a young age, we are taught that men are supposed to be strong, both physically and emotionally, and eating meat is associated with that strength.
From a physical strength standpoint, eating meat is often linked to building muscle; in terms of emotional strength, not getting worked up about food choices implies a “manly” lack of sentimentality.
In a study published last spring in the Journal of Consumer Research, researchers conducted various experiments to examine what people unconsciously think of certain foods, and they found a connection in people’s minds between masculinity and meat.
“To the strong, traditional, macho, bicep-flexing, All-American male, red meat is a strong, traditional, macho, bicep-flexing, All-American food,” the authors wrote. “Soy is not. To eat it, they would have to give up a food they saw as strong and powerful like themselves for a food they saw as weak and wimpy.”
Another study published in Appetite journal found that while people see vegetarians as more virtuous, they also consider them less masculine.
While certain men, such as retired professional boxer Mike Tyson and performer Usher, can promote their vegetarian diets with confidence and still be seen as symbols of masculinity, they are the exception rather than the rule.
In the past five years, the U.N. released a report saying that animal agriculture is responsible for eighteen percent of greenhouse gas emissions (more than the entire transportation sector combined), and studies have shown that eating less meat can significantly reduce one’s risk of heart disease and cancer. Additionally, reports of the horrific animal abuse that occurs on factory farms have become more and more widespread.
In his book Eating Animals, Jonathan Safran Foer writes: “We have the burden and the opportunity of living in the moment when the critique of factory farming broke into the popular consciousness. We are the ones of whom it will be fairly asked, ‘What did you do when you learned the truth about eating animals?’”
Despite the growing evidence that going vegetarian is helpful to animals, humans, and the planet as a whole, perhaps a major reason why men are still clinging to their burgers (and not even willing to eat less meat) is because they are worried about no longer being seen as “real men.”
But here’s the issue – there is no such thing as a “real man.” The term in itself is problematic, confining men to a stereotype that involves chowing down on burgers and objectifying women in bikinis.
In perpetuating the notion that “real men” eat meat, we not only promote the factory farming industry, but we also perpetuate patriarchal gender roles that limit both men and women. And we owe it to ourselves – as well as to our planet and to the animals – to do better than that.
Thanks for publishing this article! This is an important, intersting topic worth considering, and I’m happy to see it is being covered in this magazine.
However, I do have a few criticisms.
Usher is now vegan, not vegetarian. http://www.mnn.com/health/fitness-well-being/blogs/usher-embraces-vegan-diet
There are important distinctions between veganism (which includes no animal products) and vegetarianism that this article does not account for. It’s important to note that most studies have found that eating less animal products in general (not just meat) has many positive impacts on health. There are many benefits of veganism that cannot be obtained from lacto-ovo (dairy and egg-including) vegetarianism. Studies have shown that consumption of dairy and eggs can be deleterious to one’s health, and replacing meat in the diet with these products will certainly not result in a lower BMI, a longer lifespan, reduced risk of many diseases, and many other benefits veganism produces.
(Lacto-ovo) vegetarianism is also *not* an appropriate response to factory farming and the environmental and ethical problems associated with this type of agriculture. All animals used in the production of milk and eggs on factory farms eventually end up as meat, and are subject to the very same abuses and cruelty as animals raised only for meat (in fact, conditions for dairy cows and egg-laying hens are arguably worse). Dairy and egg production can also be more harmful to the environment, because cows and hens are almost always raised in confinement (where waste is concentrated), whereas most beef cattle spend at least part of their lives on grass.
I realize this article was about our gendered impression of meat consumption, but I do hope that in future articles on this topic Campus BluePrint will be more mindful of the differences between veganism and mainstream (lacto-ovo) vegetarianism. The latter is not a solution and the difference is especially critical to note when discussing the health, environmental, and ethical benefits of plant-based diets.
Hi Jamie,
I am well aware of the cruelty associated with the egg and dairy industries, as well as the fact that they are just as harmful to the environment as the meat industry. I am passionate about ending the use of animals for food in general – I spent last summer interning on a farm sanctuary in Woodstock, New York, working 40 hours a day for six days a week. One of my favorite memories from the summer involved working with a group of rescued “layer” hens, and I hate that chickens like the ones I worked with face lives of terrible suffering and certain death at the hands of the egg industry.
That being said, and as you pointed out, this was not a piece about animal welfare. I think you will agree that while masculinity is often associated with a burger, the association is not nearly as strong with, say, an egg and cheese sandwich. In order to make my point, I thought it would be more effective to focus on vegetarianism; however, I definitely agree that I should have made the distinction when I mentioned Usher because I think it is SO great that he is vegan!
I personally do not believe in being so harsh toward vegetarians, however. I think that it is important to encourage, rather than condemn, people who are aware of the issues with animal agriculture and are willing to do something. For some, that is participating in Meatless Mondays, for others, it is going vegetarian, and still others decide to go vegan. While going vegan is definitely the most effective option, I agree with Billy in that we are all on the same team.
I understand the distinctions you make between vegetarianism and veganism, but I think my points still apply to vegetarianism, just to a lesser degree. In terms of health, ALL animal products are high in cholesterol, so reducing your meat consumption will lower your cholesterol, thereby reducing the risk of heart disease – one major reason vegans often live longer lives. While the egg industry is arguably (and in my opinion) more cruel than the meat industry, abstaining from meat is still avoiding one aspect of cruelty that comes with animal agriculture. And while egg and dairy industries are part of the environmental problem, the meat industries still play an integral role, so a vegetarian diet is still more environmentally-friendly than an omnivorous one.
I really appreciate your feedback and your strong commitment to veganism! I hope to continue writing on topics of animal agriculture, and any posts I write on animal cruelty or the environment will definitely stress the importance of vegan diet.
Hi Neha,
Thanks for your response. I apologize if my comment was offensive or overly critical; I genuinely do appreciate that you are writing on these topics!
I’m jealous of your summer in Woodstock; I’m hoping to do a similar internship soon! In fact, I’d love to exchange contact info and talk about veganism and animal rights etc. =)
I’ll keep my response short, but I just wanted to share some articles by vegan writer and professor Gary Francione, who has some interesting things to say about vegetarianism and things like Meatless Mondays. I agree with Francione that there shouldn’t be any distinction between vegetarianism and omnivorousness (omnivorism/carnism). It may seem radical at first but I hope you’ll give Francione’s arguments some thought- they make a lot of sense to me.
http://www.abolitionistapproach.com/media/pdf/the-vegan-2010spring.pdf
http://www.abolitionistapproach.com/the-paradigm-shift-requires-clarity-about-the-moral-baseline-veganism/#.UQdOdSdEErU
Very interesting point made, particularly in the concluding paragraphs!
Thank you!
Also I wanted to quickly reply to Jamie. I think it’s important not to criticize too harhsly people, like the author, who are clearly on our team. I’m vegan myself and I agree with everything you said.
However, it’s important to provide vegetarians with knowledge in a helping tone, rather than criticize them for not doing enough. For some people, the transition is difficult, and I believe that it’s our responsibility to help people make that transition. That is, if we’re actually hoping to create change rather than just getting on our high horse and yelling at people.
Consider this when you talk to your friends, family, and the author, because you comment is off-putting. This is my criticism of PETA – they have good information and have done good things, but sometimes the way they carry themselves get us vegans lumped into categories with crazy religious or cult people. This is not who we are. We make our decision based on compassion and feeling for other beings, yes, but also based on empirical evidence and logical arguments.
I hope you can take this as a friendly suggestion from an ally and not a harsh criticism
Hi Billy,
Thanks for your response. I completely understand (and share) your concerns about alienating people.
I hope my comment isn’t perceived as getting on my high horse and yelling, because that isn’t what I meant it to be. I also don’t think it could be seen as crazy religious or cult-like. I just think that it’s very important not to confuse vegetarianism and veganism, and meat consumption with consumption of all animal products. I think articles like this could go a long way toward eliminating the stigma surrounding veganism by making the distinction clear. In fact, veganism has become much more mainstream and acceptable in recent years (Usher and the many other vegan celebrities are great examples of this) so I don’t think it’s necessary to use vegetarianism as a kind of euphemism when the reference really should be to veganism. There’s a lot of confusion and many misconceptions about veganism that articles like this could help to clear up rather than perpetuate.
Thanks again for your comment and thanks for your compassion!
Point well taken. I’m actually trying to write an article for my blog (you can click on my name to see it) on reasons to go vegan rather than just vegetarian. If you’re interested in exchanging e-mails to talk about some key points that would be cool!
I’m bradywilliamj (at) gmail (dot) com
I just followed you! =) You’ve got a great blog. I’d love to chat sometime.
Jamie,
Those articles are really interesting, thank you for sharing! I’ve never quite thought about it that way but it definitely makes sense to me too, especially in the case of milk being so strongly tied to the veal industry – in participating in one, you’re still promoting the other! Here is the link to the farm sanctuary I interned at:
http://woodstocksanctuary.org
It was a wonderful experience – the staff was very nice and they provided on-site housing which was great. I’d definitely recommend it if you’re looking for one!
I would love to talk more sometime – my email is neha.verma528 (at) gmail (dot) com.
A life changing, worldwide, must-see speech/debate by Philip Wollen (10 mins) “Animals should be off the menu.” http://animalspirits222.wordpress.com/2012/12/25/heroism-by-speech/
~Gerean Pflug for “The Animal Spirits”