“If meat signals masculinity, then men who choose not to eat meat might sacrifice more than just their bacon. Indeed, the backlash against veganism and vegetarianism, with gendered insults such as ‘soy boy’, seems to be particularly directed at vegan (or vegetarian) men.”
The latest issue of The Psychologist, the official magazine of the British Psychological Society, includes two articles authored by Senior Lecturer in Psychology, Kristof Dhont.
“One is co-authored with my PhD student Alina Salmen: On ‘meatheads’ and ‘soy boys’ is about the gendered nature of meat consumption and veganism. The other, with Joachim Stoeber, Professor of Psychology at Kent, “The vegan resistance”, centres on the ideological pushback against the rise of veganism (previously published online as a teaser in advance of print).
“I hope the articles will boost interest in the psychology of veganism and meat consumption and demonstrate that Kent is taking the lead on the research in this area”, Dhont told us. “Generally, reading the articles will make you reflect on your own dietary habits and help you to understand why the consumption of meat and other animal products is ethically problematic, yet difficult to change”.
The Psychologist published an entire chapter from “Why We Love and Exploit Animals: Bridging Insights from Academia and Advocacy” edited by Dhont (along with Gordon Hodson) and written by Tobias Leenaert, online.
All this activity attracts attention to the upcoming conference (The Animal Advocacy Conference, 30 June – 2 July, 2021) hosted by the University of Kent and Sharklab and bringing together, for the first time, researchers from different fields in the social and behavioural sciences, and animal activists and advocates from around the world.