The Manly Vegetarian

A man eats steak and sausages. A women eats salads.

We’ve all seen this cliché somewhere, be it in a movie or an advertisement and now in the minds of Australian men. For many men meat-eating is a symbol of manliness. His food must have been killed, grilled and be packed with protein. Vegetables? Pfft, it is the food of his food. Even when countless studies have shown the health benefits of going vegetarian, many men refuse to change, putting their social image above their health and the wellbeing of the planet.

A recent study on vegetarian and vegan demographics showed that in both categories there were more women than men. Hardly surprising in all honesty. Of the people I have had discussions of vegetarianism/veganism with the ones with the most vocal opposition have been males. The stereotypical Aussie identity doesn’t help either. For example, being encouraged to eat lamb on Australia day in order to be “patriotic”.

Several suggestions as to why this link between masculinity and vegetarianism exists, allude to the concept of apathy in men. Men are expected to be emotionless, detached and unaffectionate beings that only use work, violence or sex to solve their problems. This indifference for feelings could also be related to a disregard to animal life. More than 80% of vegans choose to do so for ethical and moral reasons and without empathy for animals it would be impossible to make that choice.

Luckily for us, sources suggest that both meat-eating and machoism is on the decline. As the world is becoming an increasingly liberal environment, more and more millennials have begun to accept the fact that veganism can be manly, with people such as vegan body-builders taking the lime-light. But in the end, these people are still the minority. The real issue lies within the concept of masculinity itself.

As cultures change, so do social expectations, and even if the current notion of masculinity is wiped out it will only take a short amount of time before it is replaced by another ideology. And if one day we decide that that way of thinking is not acceptable anymore, the entire process must be done again only for it to repeat itself. For us to be able to adapt continually to an ever-changing landscape, the very concepts of gender-oriented “should” and “shouldn’t” need to disappear. While it may be difficult we as a people need to stop expecting things of each other. Unfortunately this ideal world where we have 100% social freedom is unrealistic for one reason, preferences. But that is a topic for another time.

If you are a non-vegetarian/vegan male ask yourself again, why do I eat meat? I can already tell that 90% of you will say that you like it too much to give up or that it is too much effort. But is there perhaps another reason, a less obvious one still in your mind that you have not touched upon? Ask yourself, what has caused you to have the values you have today, who and what influenced you into making certain decisions? Family? Friends? Media? Ultimately, it is you who makes the decision and also you who decides what you are influenced by. The manly vegetarian can and will exist if you wish it to.

#Veganism #Society #Motivation