Study Claims Men Eat Meat to , ‘Affirm Their Masculine Identity’.
A study from the University of California
published in the journal ‘Appetite’ has found
a link between diet and gender.
Specifically questioned was the validity of
the stereotype: “real men eat meat.” .
The study was conducted by polling more than 1,700 adults
in the United States between the ages of 18 and 88. .
Participants were asked about their meat consumption
levels, openness to non-meat diets, sense of gender identity
and tendency to conform to gender roles. .
Researchers found that men who followed more traditional
gender roles ate more beef and chicken and had lower
levels of openness to non-meat diets.
Similar trends were not observed with men who reported
higher fish or pork consumption or with women in general. .
This suggests that men may be trying to
validate their masculinity by eating more meat.
The study also concluded that a “deeper understanding of
gender roles” could be beneficial for the environment.
Within-gender differences in self-ascribed
masculinity/femininity among men offer insights
into these phenomena… A deeper understanding
of gender roles may be useful to reducing
public meat consumption for improved human
health and environmental sustainability, Study authors, via ‘Appetite’