Meat, men, and toxic masculinity

The Drum - ABC TV

Why is gendered eating a thing?

We surveyed 1,000 Australians in March 2021 about perceptions around low-meat or no-meat diets and found both men and women associate meat-eating with “manliness”; 73 percent of male respondents were so wedded to meat, they would rather live up to 10 fewer years than give it up.

No Meat May Co-founder Ryan Alexander, a former meat-eater, said the survey revealed how closely Australians linked meat-eating with masculinity. It found many believed the more meat a man’s diet contained, the more masculine he was.