Climate change has been a key topic in society and the political arena for several years. Different strategies to preserve the earth’s climate have been pushed, but I rarely see people discuss the impact gender may have on the state of the planet. Many arguments have surfaced discussing how the consumption of animal products leads to higher greenhouse gas emissions. In order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the future, a thorough understanding of the impact gender inequality has on climate change is needed for all individuals.
WHY are MORE WOMEN MITIGATE CLIMATE CHANGE THAN MEN?
Stereotypes make it easier to understand why women make more changes in the climate movement than men. According to HowStuffWorks, the stereotype about how eating meat makes an individual more masculine has a lot of leverage on this topic. At the same time, when thinking about going to a restaurant and ordering meals such as a salad or a fruit parfait, this is stereotypically dominated by women. Additionally, we must look at American advertising. Within the media, men are either the hunters or are almost always seen as the person using the grill to cook meats. Additionally, 79% of vegans identify as female. This huge percentage makes sense against the expectations that the media applies to men regarding food consumption.
Upon researching, it is clear that the motives between why a man or woman may pursue a vegan diet can be very different. According to MDPI, men who choose this path may face conflict between their intrinsic preferences and gender norms while women typically do not seem to be concerned with fitting into specific gendered choices. After addressing these findings, I began to wonder why these different points of views are commonly present for men and women. The same research stated that men are under more pressure to keep their stereotypical masculinity seen. Pursuing an area that is dominated by women may lead to teasing or misunderstanding from peers. MDPI described that both groups may be afraid of losing their masculinity due to the fact that this may affect how each other is seen within society. Judgment is seen everywhere in society, therefore it makes sense that individuals may fear how they are viewed by their social circle after choosing to become vegan.
WHAT DOES BEING VEGAN have to do with climate change?
While talking about the gendered assumptions that may contribute to why certain individuals decide to be vegan, I want to circle back to why this may correlate with effects on climate change. According to research from the University of Oxford, individuals who do not consume meat within their diet account for 75 percent less in greenhouse gas emissions than those who eat more than 3.5 ounces of meat a day. Additionally, a vegan diet results in significantly less harm to land, water and biodiversity. As many of us may know from science classes, greenhouse gasses trap heat within the atmosphere ultimately leading to global warming.
Overall, it is clear that the stereotypes regarding the diets of men and women can cause harm to individuals who may decide to pursue a vegan lifestyle. I believe that it is important for everybody to do everything in their power to avoid perpetuating these stereotypes and to call out the mainstream media when these continue to be used. The impact of individuals following a vegan diet creates a huge, positive impact in the future of our planet. Standing against gendered stereotypes will benefit everyone.
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