Alex Bove wants to know, “Should we really be shaming men for being able to pronounce quinoa?” On meat, masculinity, and men’s health and the sexual politics of meat.
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As a fan of American football who does not consider himself a manly man™, I often find the messages advertisers attempt to send sports viewers puzzling. This Bud Light commercial played in heavy rotation during a recent N.F.L. weekend, and it’s made me think about the relationship between meat and masculinity:
Our male protagonist laments that an unnamed “she” packed veggie burgers in his tailgating cooler. He recalls “accidentally” eating one last time, when his team won. Ascribing a causal relationship to these two events, he reluctantly drops a quinoa burger onto the grill, despite his claims that it tastes like a dirty tree branch and his male friend’s comparison of the patty to a loofah. The ad’s tag line is that Bud Light is for “the fans who do whatever it takes.”
The ad relies on several tropes of hegemonic masculinity. The protagonist is a solitary male whose female partner is more concerned about healthy eating than he is. He is also presented as a buffoon who can’t pronounce “quinoa” and who believes in sports superstitions (indeed, the commercial closes with a riff from Stevie Wonder’s “Superstition”). In the end, however, he will do anything, no matter how loathsome or humiliating, for his team. The ad’s tagline reassures men that “it’s only weird if it doesn’t work.” It’s important to remember that normalcy is desirable, but that the ends justify the means.
More importantly, the ad links meat eating with masculinity. The veggie burger is a poor substitute for a “real” burger: it both looks and tastes unappealing. Also, a real man would never voluntarily eat quinoa. Every circumstance leading up to his choice to eschew meat is accidental and/or fateful. He endures ridicule for his decision, but we are also meant to see his sacrifice as an act of bravery (thus, he is able to retain his masculinity, despite the obvious threat to it).
♦◊♦
As Carol Adams points out in her germinal book, The Sexual Politics of Meat, meat and masculinity are intimately connected, and meat eating is also related to the oppression of women. Just as we dissect non-human animals’ bodies into cuts of meat, we dissect and fetishize women’s body parts. Studies have consistently shown that violence against animals is correlated with violence against women. Adams suggests that the power relations that characterize patriarchal gender norms are reinforced by the imperative of male (masculine) meat consumption.
When we value meat eating as a masculine activity, we devalue not only women, who are statistically more likely to be vegetarians (for reasons of health and compassion for animals), but we also devalue men who choose vegetarianism or veganism. Indeed, a 2012 study found that both men and women associate meat—particularly “muscle” meats, steak, etc.—with masculinity. In addition, the study analyzed 23 languages and found a preponderance of masculine words used to describe meat.
The conflation of masculinity and meat eating is not just bad for men and women socially. It is also, quite literally, bad for men’s health. The two leading causes of death among men have both been linked to red meat consumption. A plant-based diet has been shown to lower the risks of several more major causes of male deaths (diabetes, stroke, and kidney disease, usually a complication of high blood pressure). Yet we persist in our assumptions that a healthy masculinity must include eating “manly” foods, and that foremost among those foods are high fat, high cholesterol animal products.
We must stop shaming men for knowing how to pronounce quinoa, and for wanting to adopt a diet based on compassion, concern for the environment, and concern for their own long-term health. Doing so will require us to jettison our ideas about the importance of men being physically big and strong, since a major justification for excessive meat consumption is that it provides necessary protein. It will also require us to abandon long-standing notions—perpetuated by entire academic fields, like evolutionary psychology—that men are natural hunters, an idea that we apply not only to our dietary gender norms but to our rhetoric around heterosexual dating (what Julia Serano calls the predatory/prey model) and traditional family dynamics.
Embracing a new generation of tofu-hungry men may seem weird, but it’s only weird if it doesn’t work, right?
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Mentioned:
photo: Thomas R. Stegelmann / flickr
This is not only bad writing but also bad editing. You can’t make statements like “studies show a link between violence against animals and violence against women” without citing the source. Also, the statements made about the health effects of red meat consumption are based on a single epidemiological study. Firstly, if you know anything about critically analysing research you’ll know that epidemiology is used to spot trends in data. Hence they use the word “association” alot. Association does not infer causation. Thats not even to mention the fact that in the study cited for this claim, the researchers openly… Read more »
Thank you for bringing this to our attention, Mike. We have new strict guidelines for our Health & Wellness articles. Unfortunately, this was an old favorite that got recirculated. It won’t be, again.
This article is a joke! Please!
The link between red meat and mortality has been generally shown to be false. It’s processed meat that causes problems. A wide variety of protein sources is ideal for human consumption and that includes animal and plant proteins.
Should we try and be more ethical in our food choices? Yes of course, battery/cage farming is horrible and not only is it not good for the animals, it affects the quality of the meat. The trouble is, stick the word organic in front of something and it doubles the price.
Look up vegan athletes online and then say we need to “jettison our ideas about the importance of men being physically big and strong” please 🙂
Am I the only one that sees the irony of a “Lite” beer commercial poking fun at the supposed “real man” for eating a veggie burger?
Humans have evolved with forward looking eyes and canines- just like all the other omnivorous mammals ..
…and all the other mostly-vegetarian primates. It’s much, much more plausible to explain our forward-facing eyes with reference to the need to navigate life in the trees than some need to chase down prey effectively, which is what explains the configuration of actual predators’ eyes.
Eating quinoa is like eating little rubber balls.
I think you ate different food. My mom is from Peru, and she cooks quinoa in a delicious way. The trick is to know how to prepare it, and to have the ingredients, that usually are from Peru and Bolivia.
I’m building muscle eating potatoes, rice and all sorts of amazing carbs. Our body runs on glucose. The only fat we need is omega 3/6. No issues in the ED department either at 44 years old, thanks to leafy greens like spinach and arugula. 🙂
Sigh more being an Omnivore = Eating Steak Egg and Chips for every meal horse shit…
So disappointed….
This article has become less about the shaming of men who don’t eat meat and more of trying to prove which kind of diet is healthier. Whether you are arguing for an omnivorous diet, a vegetarian diet, a vegan diet, or even a cupcake diet (that’s one I can certainly jump on the bandwagon for), we shouldn’t shame anyone for the specifics of what they eat, NOR should we throw out pseudoscience where, through some weird calculation, meat eaters somehow contribute to global warming and climate change which is killing the planet. That itself is shaming and goes against what… Read more »
I should note that I was speaking of the comment section at the beginning of my post and not the article. My bad.
I don’t really think that vegetarianism = feminine. Nor does meat eating = masculine. Veggie burgers tasting like cardboard however is quite common. Diet crazy and willing to eat cardboard to save 50 calories type women are quite common. The guys I know who are vegetarians are cooks who make amazing dishes that you would never guess don’t have meat in them. You should see their faces when you suggest a veggie burger! LOL! Not a man but try to eat healthy woman here and still not a vegetarian. I eat meat, will occasionally eat the bacon cheese burger but… Read more »
I always try to argue by reference to other cultures and countries. 40% of people in India don’t eat meat and many more eat only little of it. Does that mean that Indians are unmanly? Of course not. So why would I be? I rest my case.
Maybe they should have shown his packing his own lunch for once
Here is an interesting addendum, a piece by the Wall Street Journal about how large food companies are attempting to market to men based on assumptions about masculinity:
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303680404579139422972891330
If I stop thinking men who don’t eat meat are less manly, can all the vegetarians not look at me like I’m trying to be the protege of Hitler simply because I enjoy eating a Bacon Cheeseburger? Because that’s the point of this article right? To not shame people because of whatever decisions they have made concerning their diet. Which is a wonderful idea and one that should followed through with everyone. But normally when I’m feeling pressured or shamed by what I eat, 9 times out of 10 its by people who are Vegans, or vegitarians, or some other… Read more »
Hitler was a vegetarian. Just sayin’
Stalin… Saddam Hussein… Pol Pot all ate meat. Just sayin’
Umm..yeah..I’m going to ignore your negative objectification of women and focus on the other part of your post. Negative objectification? I simply describe the natural male sex drive. You people who have been brainwashed by feminism, have been programmed to demonize the visual-based nature of male sexuality as something intrinsically bad or “oppressive. Men’s base sexual desire is to mate with genetically healthy and superior female specimens. It’s called the boner test, dear. If a female is fat, sickly, or unattractive, we will not have a sexual response to the sight or her. But if she’s fit, symmetrical, and displays… Read more »
you sir, are a badass motherfucker and have done your research. you even threw in the bit about fat soluble vitamins being crucial. very well stated. fuck all this vegetarian noise. as humans, we have been designed by evolution to eat meat and plants, but mostly meat as it is much more calorically and nutrient dense.
In agreement with you Clark. Adding that Einstein did say, eat your vegetables, and he never said avoid meat. Of course, those nutritionally-deficient vegans think they are smarter than Einstein. Go figure.
Kitti,
Trying again:
Kwash. Short for http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kwashiorkor
You know, those starving kids with the terribly distended bellies? Body without sufficient protein consumes its own muscle tissue. When the abdominal wall–muscle–is sufficiently weakened, the viscera protude. Hence the stick-like arms and legs and the belly.
Of course you need protein. But there is such a thing as vegetarian protein. Tofu and chickpeas have lots of it. And then there’s supplements too. I am doing a little bodybuilding now and I simply am unable to eat chicken breasts and lean steaks every day. Mostly for ethical reasons. So I take whey protein, which is from a dairy waste product which would otherwise just be thrown away. It comes in unappealing plastic containers like food for very large dogs, but it does the job. This man became the way he is on a purely vegan diet: http://cdn2-b.examiner.com/sites/default/files/styles/image_content_width/hash/56/b5/56b50cb7a53cc34df0a8361082fc64b4.jpg… Read more »
One more thing: Such an outlook on meat has the stinking aroma of social conditioning, a product of too many New York sitcoms. ( Stuck on the subject? Turn off the television and get a life )
This anti-red meat ideology is 100% fru-fru-scammy garbage speak. But then, there are not so many vegans that think their puny diet is what everyone should be doing…. AND I SAY TO VEGANS, GO POUND SAND. Pass that plate of ribs and BBQ sauce back over please. Beef fajitas tomorrow. Burgers for lunch. Skillet steaks frequent. CLUE TO VEGANS…. It tastes good.
Whilst I think this whole “red meat” craze is for the birds( yesterday I saw an episode of “According To Jim” where the title character played by Jim Belushi eats an entire 72 ounce steak “just to prove that I can!”), I STILL think that the odd steak never killed anyone( I am a type 2 diabetic and rarely drink and never smoke).
Terry
It depends what your idea of an “odd steak” is. A steak once a year? Probably not. A steak once a month? I am not so certain. Heart disease is a leading killer in men AND women.
But who wants to live forever? I’d rather have quality of life than quantity. The only thing that worries me would be paralysis after a stroke. I would if you can fix that with a DNR.
Well, I get that John. But it depends on what your idea of a “quality of life” is. My body feels better when I eat healthy. Even though I really enjoy a cheese burger from 5 Guys “once in awhile”. I think it depends on your age too. I’m 32. I want to live for a long time. Ask me again when I’m 62, I might want that steak more. Right now, there is a not I haven’t done yet and that means more to me at this point.
Humans just don’t need much protein at all. If you crave meat, you’re craving its fat. Humans aren’t even capable of craving protein, that’s how little it matters in our diet.
Okay. So there are two groups of men wrt this issue. One eats meat because they think it makes them manly, or they think other people will think them manly if they eat meat. The other group eats meat because they like it.
Which group is larger? What shall we do about the second group?
Nutrients found in meat that you cannot find in plant foods, or if they are in plant foods, are not bioavailable, or poorly absorbed from plant foods: Conjugated linoleic Acid. Carnitine. Lutein. Choline. B12. Iron. Stearic Acid. These are essential nutrients and vital to health of both males and females. We are an omnivorous species, incisors in our dentistry for tearing meat, and hydrochloric acid in our bellies to digest it. Eating meat, especially red meat from naturally raised animals (grass fed/free range/open pastured) animals is some of the healthiest food a human being, male or female, can consume. meat… Read more »
Umm..yeah..I’m going to ignore your negative objectification of women and focus on the other part of your post. You do realize that “carintine” is a actually highly disputed. Even in supplement form. Carnitine turns into a substance called TMA in the body. The liver processes the TMA into a compound that’s linked to plaque build-up. Through research, this build up is bigger in those who consume more red meat. Stearic Acid has not been proven to either be good or bad for your body. And it’s not just in red meat. It can be found in dark chocolate. Lutin, Iron,… Read more »
I think it is important not to relate diet choices with gender.
It’s not about whether meat is healthy, or necessary for building muscles, or if it makes people fat. Melissa McEwen posted an article in her blog about how the “meat heavy paleo diet (even if it is not)” is widely seen as a diet for men in NY despite the fact that she was one of the leaders of NY meatshare.
“Because slim young women are restricted to cupcakes, right?”
http://www.veganbodybuilding.com/
Thanks for writing this piece Alex!
Why do chimps hunt? Go research the answer to this question. It destroys your entire theory. As to this: “Studies have consistently shown that violence against animals is correlated with violence against women” — this is a classic anti-meat/anti-hunting canard. There is a vast, vast difference between the psychopathic pet abuser — who IS more likely to be an abuser, an arsonist, a serial killer, etc — versus a hunter. All the hunters I know, are the kindest, gentlest husbands and fathers around; and far from reveling in animal pain like the psycho, the hunters seek to make the swiftest,… Read more »
Well, in all fairness, even good husbands and dads can fetishsize and disregard women for their bodies. They are not mutually exclusive traits. I can agree that many good men can be hunters as well and I have seen hunters give greater respect to animals. But, I do think there is a commodification among men and consuming meat, whether it be animal meat or female “meat”. My older brother just a year ago now had a double by-pass. He was 34, fit and active. He has cut out all meat from his diet. When people learn this, usually men, they… Read more »
And none of his cardiac issues were due to genetics.
Absolutely, genetics totally plays it’s role. But here are some things for you to think about Richard. (By the way, you have the same name as my Dad.) Heart diesase is a leading killer in men and women in America. Even those without heart diease. Between our portions, the amount of meat in our diets, and the extremely high sodium count in food, people do not think about what their eating. Secondly, all the men in my family that passed from heart disease where over the age of 60 and they each led hard lives. Much harder then what my… Read more »