Why are more women vegan than men?

Climate change activists garnered plenty of attention in 2019, from Greta Thunberg being named Time magazine’s Person of the Year to the droves of students protesting on the streets, to commercial clothing chains greenwashing their brands in response to public pressure for greener practices. As more people became aware of the climate crisis, they’re asking themselves what they can do in their lives to make a difference. One popular action is cutting  out meat — or even going vegan.

Environmental activists aren’t the only ones who have touted the benefits of veganism, however. Feminists have long linked oppressive gender dynamics to industrialized animal agriculture, noting that female animals and their reproductive organs are exploited for profit, under intensely inhumane conditions. In fact, 79 percent of vegans are women. 

Some theorize that this gender disproportionation can be attributed to cultural notions of masculinity being contingent on the primordial intricacies of the hunter-prey paradigm. Western media has deeply perpetuated male gender stereotypes, such as the idea that men are violent and domineering. This learned concept may have been helpful in the hunter-gatherer days, but in a well-ordered society, marginalizes others — especially women. A parallel can also be drawn between the way men treat food and heterosexual sex. As Carol Adams, author of The Sexual Politics of Meat, puts it, “objectification and fragmentation” leads to consumption. 

While male gender stereotypes may influence men’s protestation of veganism, female gender stereotypes may explain why women are drawn toward and/or associated with it. In 2014, the Huffington Post suggested that because “following a vegan diet can take a bit of work and a whole lot of will,” it’s unsurprising that veganism is a female-dominated lifestyle, since “women are more dedicated … more health conscious, more compassionate.” 

The contrapositive learned truth of men being expected, or even encouraged, to eat meat, therefore, is the expectation that it will be easier for women not to eat meat. This abstinence is reduced to how naturally simple it is for women to express compassion and consciousness in their consumption.But this assumption strips men of responsibility and invalidates the very real pressures placed on women to act conscientiously. Take, for instance, the disproportionate expectation that women not eat too much to appear slender, and should opt for a salad, or other inherently vegan low-calorie meals. Men consume more calories on average than women, yet it seems more pertinent to society to ration a woman’s diet first and foremost.

The disproportionate pressure put on women to go vegan by vegan proponents is evident in certain YouTube communities. YouTuber “BestDressed” has acknowledged the pressure she faces in comments to go vegan, and that she does not see similar comments under men’s videos. A look at the videos uploaded by popular vegan Youtuber “Freelee the Banana Girl” shows that the user generally posts one video critiquing a male influencer’s diet for every 23 videos critiquing a woman’s. 

This expectation is also a microcosm of a larger issue within progressive movements like climate activism and feminism: that women must bear the brunt of necessary but difficult labor. Blogs, op-eds, articles, and individuals within the climate change movement often suggest that helping the climate can be performed by altering historically female chores, like washing clothes using cold water, hanging clothes on a clothesline, making meals using leftovers, using natural materials to clean, and bringing reusable bags and containers to stores. It’s not a coincidence that these tasks encompass the realms of cooking, cleaning, and grocery shopping — tasks women still do the majority of. 

In fact, the expectation that women take care of the planet directly parallels the expectation that women take care of the home and everyone in it. Three recent studies have confirmed that as of 2019, women feel a higher pressure to have a clean home than do men. “Messy men are given a pass and messy women are unforgiven,” Claire Miller wrote last summer in the New York Times. “Housework is still considered women’s work … socially, women — but not men — are judged negatively for having a messy house and undone housework.” 

It’s a classic example of the “boys will be boys” epidemic: Women are burdened with cleaning up after men in the home and now on a literal global scale. Women are cast as the nurturing mothers of the earth, while men aren’t expected to take any care or exert any effort. Where are the articles on “simple” tips that tell people to drink less beer (a predominantly male beverage), which has a significant carbon impact? It’s somehow harder to expect men change their attitudes.

The bottom line? Women alone can’t solve the climate crisis. It’s time for men to step up and do the work, too.