If you’ve been a vegan for any length of time, hell, if you’ve been a vegetarian for any length of time and you’re a guy, then you’ve probably heard that real men eat meat or some such other nonsense.
It’s hard to combat the stereotype that only manly men or guy’s guys eat meat, but for whatever reason, if you don’t eat meat, sometimes, in some circles there is the subtle undertone that you’re not a real man whatever the hell that means.
I think it might have started with the fact that meat for the longest time was considered the best quality protein. And it probably also came about because hunting in hunting and gathering societies is usually the domain of men. But don’t get me started on the idea that to be a “real” man you need to kill things. That’s what sociopaths, murderers and killers do. I don’t think those are the circles we want to be traveling in.
In any event, the whole concept of what it means to be a real man, needs to change and thank God it is changing. For me, a real man is one who shows courage under stress. Kindness to the weak and vulnerable and empathy towards or life.
But that’s a post for another time. But while we’re at it, lets kill the myth that meat eaters are more manly than vegans.
And one of the things that the average man thinks about when he thinks about being a man in a physiological sense is testosterone. It is the male hormone. Yeah, women have testosterone too, but I’m talking about how it is perhaps the hormone that defines a male physiologically.
And here’s where the good news is. As the title suggest, vegan men have more testosterone than meat eating men. End of discussion. You can read about the science involved here.
All this really does is disprove the idea that you need meat to make enough testosterone. It’s kinda like the idea that you need to eat cholesterol in order to make enough cholesterol. We know that the body is very adept at making all the cholesterol it needs, and all the testosterone it needs, as we’ve just found out.
This doesn’t make vegans any more manly than it makes meat eating men less manly. But what I think does offer support for vegan men as “real” men, is their compassion and empathy.
Any man worth his salt is compassionate and kind. Most men recognize this, and most women want this in their men. However, vegans are the avant garde when it comes to the natural evolution of what it means to be the ideal man.
Empathy and kindness to those who are of our own kind is a good and required first step, but extending that branch of kindness and compassion towards other kindred souls in the bodies of other species… now that, that is what separates the real men from the boys.
And the really great news. You can start now. With your next meal, you can put an end to your part in the cruelty and abysmal lack of even simple kindness that humanity on a daily basis shows to those who squawk instead to talk, those who neigh instead of prayer and those whose other voices fall upon our deaf ears.
Join the evolution, go vegan, because you know it’s the right thing to do. And nobody gets hurt, and you’ll get well.