Have you ever thought about food having anything to do with gender? No? Well don’t worry because I never did either. But do you ever remember 90’s movies where a couple is on a date and the man always orders a steak and the woman orders a salad? What about movies that used that as an opportunity to make a comedic scene? This would have the woman ordering a steak and a large amount of food as well, while the man is shocked. Woman in society are expected to be healthy, neat, and small portioned eaters. Yet men are expected to eat a lot and that emphasizes a ton of meat. “The experiences of women in patriarchal cultures are especially valuable because women, more then men, experience the effects of culturally sanctioned oppressive attitudes toward the appropriate shape of the body (Curtin 1991). AKA a woman is expected to look a certain way, all the time.
Woman, on average, eat more fruits and vegetables than men. They are also more likely to become vegetarians/vegans. It is an odd lifestyle difference. If one was to ask a man to refrain from eating meat, he would be so dramatic. It is as if eating red meat is a sign of masculinity. Maybe due to history, it has become embedded in evolution. Men were the known hunters of tribes and villages. They would hunt the animals, bring them back, provide meat, and skins/furs for protection from the cold/clothing. Woman were expected to harvest and collect the grains/vegetables. Eating meat was used for survival. One needed it to stay strong and live in harsh conditions. Yet science has proved that meat is not always good, and that fruits/vegetables/grains can hold more nutritional value. Society still eats meat even though we are no longer in survival mode.
This image, to me, highlights the killing of the animal and then the gratification of eating it. Also, this practice of carving is found at mostly expensive restaurants. One who can afford this form of consuming meat would have money. We have now put “levels” to meat eating and made it something of the norm; animals being raised just to be killed in masses.
I believe some countries are in poverty and due to survival need to eat meat. Also, some people that have tried being a vegetarian have difficulty health wise. I do believe we have started eating meat just because we can vs why we as humans had originally started to. We have taken our power of being highest on the food chain and exploited it. We do not consider the animals feelings, which have been scientifically proven to exist. BUT it didn’t take a genius to see that. There are three different ethical perspectives on this topic; Utilitarian and Consequentialist, and right-based. Utilitarian’s believe there is a scale of suffering one must consider. Consequentialists believe there are rights but exclude non-humans. And right-based groups believe that EVERYONE and EVERYTHING has a right regardless suffering or species. Greta Gaard emphasizes this by highlighting the keeping of pets. We are in control even up until the point of pet ownership. Making sure, “animals do not reproduce or taking them off the street and bringing them into our homes” (Gaard).
P.S. Reading Gaard’s POV has me feeling like so sad that I have my dogs but I love them :((