Politics a meaty business, study finds

Stuff.co.nz (New Zealand)

A study on meat-eaters and vegetarians linked to work on phobias has some results that seem in keeping with anecdotal evidence I've gathered over the past few years as a vegan. While there are obviously some conservative vegetarians out there, they seem to be in the minority. Even the writings of Matthew Scully and those who have demonstrated compassion for animals tend to speak from the paradigm outlined in the following quote (which pretty much represents all that's relevant from this article, so don't bother clicking on the link unless you want to read about other, more trivial findings):

Victoria University senior psychology lecturer Marc Wilson, an omnivore, and PhD student Michael Allen, a vegetarian, say meat is symbolic.

'Why do people eat meat? Partly, it's a way of expressing dominance or masculinity . . . Really masculine men eat more meat,' Dr Wilson said.

National Party supporters and men who saw the world in a hierarchical way tended to eat more meat than Labour Party supporters and women - who saw the world in a more interconnected, less structured way, the researchers found.

It certainly figures for me. While I do believe hierarchies exist, there's no doubt in my mind about our interconnectedness. As for structure... well, I've never been good at working within other people's or institution's structures, but I like working within my own.

Based upon reading the opinions of many other vegetarians, I'm inclined to say that many agree, but I'm curious to know how many disagree, why, and what political perspectives they have.

Categories: politics | psychology