Is this why British men love barbecuing so much? Men eat more meat in countries like Britain, where gender equality is greater, research claims
- Men eat more meat – and women less – in countries with greater gender equality
- Men in these countries may be trying to demonstrate their masculinity
With summer just around the corner, men across Britain will finally be preparing to fire up the barbecue.
Now a study has shed light on why British men love their meat so much.
Researchers from the University of Zurich say men eat more meat – and women less – in countries with greater gender equality.
Exactly why this is remains unclear.
However, the researchers suggest that men in these countries may eat more meat to demonstrate their masculinity, as eating meat is considered more masculine.
Researchers from the University of Zurich say men eat more meat – and women less – in countries with greater gender equality (stock image)
The authors suggest that one possibility is that when women gain more equality, both men and women will be freer to express their food preferences.
Previous research has shown that women are more likely to avoid meat altogether and be vegan or vegetarian than men.
The findings proved to be true in countries with the highest gender equality, with Britain, along with Germany, Poland and Argentina, topping the rankings.
The study authors looked at 23 countries and survey responses from 20,802 participants in countries in the Americas, Europe and Asia.
Participants reported their gender and how often they ate meat.
With summer just around the corner, men across Britain will finally be preparing to fire up the barbecue. Now a study has shed light on why British men love their meat so much (stock image)
The results showed that – with the exception of China, India and Indonesia – men in their study ate meat more often than women.
Perhaps less surprisingly, the researchers also found that men and women from countries with higher levels of gender equality and social and economic development were more likely to eat meat than men and women from countries with lower levels of social and economic development.
Total meat consumption was highest in Thailand, China, the US and Spain.
The authors called their findings a “paradox,” because one might think that as men and women become more equal, their diets should, in theory, also become more similar.
The authors note that “there is evidence that vegetarian men are considered less attractive than omnivorous men in some cultures, demonstrating that cultural differences link gender norms to masculinity behavior.”