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When you feast on a juicy steak, do you feel closer to your Neanderthal ancestors who used their brawn to hunt for their next meal?
A new study has found that the men who enjoy meat the most also consider themselves more traditionally masculine and view eating it as “normal.”
Researchers from the University of Canberra in Australia surveyed 5,244 men and women about their sex characteristics and attitudes to eating meat.
The survey found that not only masculine men, but also women who consider themselves stereotypically feminine, viewed eating meat as “natural, necessary and enjoyable.
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This may be because those who tend to conform to gender norms are more likely to view less meat consumption as a ‘norm violation’.
A new study has found that the men who enjoy meat the most also see themselves as more traditionally masculine and see eating it as ‘normal’ (stock image)
Relationship between likelihood of adopting a vegetarian or vegan diet and masculinity for men (black) or femininity for women (grey)
The authors wrote: ‘Our findings suggest that men in Australia may be resistant to giving up meat because eating meat is a way of expressing their masculinity.
‘We also showed that more female women – and more masculine men – regarded meat as more natural, more necessary and tastier.’
Studies have shown that men tend to eat more meat than women, despite the fact that both sexes need the same amount nutritionally.
So the difference could be explained by the fact that eating meat is something that is seen as inherently masculine.
“Media representations of meat are gendered and many ads position meat as ‘masculine,'” the researchers wrote.
“Even preschool-aged boys implicitly associate meat with masculinity.
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They added: ‘Australia has a long agricultural history and Australian culture places a high value on barbecue, seeing this style of cooking as a ‘masculine’ activity.’
Similarly, some research has suggested that vegetarianism and eco-friendly behavior are considered feminine.
For the study, published in Sexual rolesthe researchers wanted to see if this was the case, by finding out if there is a link between meat consumption and perceived masculinity.
The authors say carnivores tend to justify the animal suffering associated with preparing their food for one of four reasons: it’s fun, normal, necessary, or natural.
An example of the latter is that humans have the right to eat other animals due to their dominant position in the food chain.
“It may be that men are more supportive of masculinity making them more willing to defend eating animals on the basis of normalcy and pleasure,” the authors wrote.
They asked the male and female study participants to rate themselves on a scale of zero to 100 on how masculine or feminine they felt, respectively.
They also had to indicate how often they had reduced or eliminated their meat consumption in the past year, and how strongly they would consider becoming a vegetarian or vegan in the future.
Of the 5,244 participants, 862 were ‘flexitarians’ – people who eat mostly vegetarian food but sometimes eat meat – and 4,035 were omnivores.
The study also found that women who consider themselves stereotypically feminine were also less likely to switch to a vegetarian or vegan diet (stock image)
Relationship between masculinity and meat reduction for men (black), femininity and meat reduction for women (grey)
Analysis of the survey results revealed that there was a link between men identifying themselves as more masculine and the belief that eating meat is normal.
This more masculine demographic was also less likely to reduce their meat consumption or try a vegan or vegetarian diet.
In addition, no relationship was found between men – regardless of how they view their level of masculinity – and higher meat consumption.
Feminine women were also no less likely to try veganism or vegetarianism, or to reduce their meat consumption.
The researchers say this difference is because masculinity “requires constant demonstration to maintain,” while femininity does not.
They wrote, “Femininity is not valued to the same degree as masculinityand women may therefore feel less pressure to conform to female gender norms than men to conform to male norms.
“Second, people tend to give women more leeway in their behavior, with a wider range of acceptable behaviors than men have.
Finally, women may feel pressure to conform to both femininity (to reflect gender typicality) and masculine ideals (given the higher status of masculinity).’
Relationship between considering meat consumption as ‘normal’ and masculinity for men (black) or femininity for women (grey)
However, a correlation was found between both strong masculinity and femininity, and the perception of meat consumption as natural, necessary and pleasant.
The authors say this could be because eating meat is seen as a ‘norm violation’ by both sexes in Australia.
There is also the idea that those who subscribe to the conservative idea of traditional gender roles tend to have conservative views on eating meat.
The authors wrote: ‘Our participants who were closer to the left of the political spectrum were more likely to reject gender characteristics.
“Previous research shows that political liberals are more open to veganism.”
They add that other research shows that vegetarians tend to be more open-minded than omnivores, possibly because they view a plant-based diet as less “radical.”
The team hopes their findings can be used by campaign groups seeking to reduce our meat consumption for the benefit of the environment, animals and human health.
‘Increasing acceptance of alternative masculinities, and developing masculinity-friendly advertising for plant-based foods, could be helpful in promoting meat reduction,” they wrote.