Lezzies for Veggies: A Curious Coincidence
Maybe it’s because for some women the idea of putting cheap, jiggly, cylindrical forcemeat from parts of an animal between one’s lips sounds absolutely disturbing, but there is an undeniable stereotype, which is based on truth, that lesbians are often vegetarians.
It’s more than a “funny” (and let me clarify it’s in quotes because it’s actually not that funny, and you should be more creative) idea about lesbians being pescetarians; the correlation is related to politics, ethics, and sympathy. I certainly am not equating the two saying that all that all lesbians are vegetarian, and I do not have an agenda in implying a lesbian should be a vegetarian (or vice versa), this article is simply written for me to explore the topic on a very basic level.
Identifying what grouping constitutes this stereotype is not so clear; many of the identities overlap. Vegans and vegetarians are often queer, women, liberal, and/or feminists, and lesbians fit into many of these categories. As for being queer, it seems that the connection is an understanding of inferiority and a matter of having felt pain themselves and not wishing that upon another animal.
T.V. journalist and author, Jane Velez-Mitchell said, “The LGBT community knows what it’s like to be voiceless and to be treated as ‘less than.’” And gay, vegan blogger and boutique candle maker, Ari Solomon says, “How could I say that I believed everyone deserved to be equal and have a chance to be happy when I was eating the remains of lives that had been wrought with misery and mercilessness. To me, the parallel was simple and plain: oppression is oppression.” He watched hours of hidden footage from factory farms, and he knew that he could not accept this. Ari grew up being bullied for what he was and what he could not control; he could not accept the hatred inflicted on these beings.
Another connection between vegetarianism and queerdom is about this challenge to change you. Anytime I go to a new farm or restaurant they say I’m only a vegetarian because I haven’t tried their meat. They then proceed to boast how they’ve turned vegetarians like me away from their lifestyles in the past. And it’s the same sort of thing when you’re gay. As though there is an individual preference for women because one hasn’t met the right guy. There is a serious meathead (ahh see the connection) belief that women could not possibly be satisfied in the bedroom without a penis. And this gross fantasy of turning a lesbian straight with your beautiful, manly meat is just….ugh. Okay, of course there is a huge difference because unlike our sexual orientation we choose to be vegetarians and vegans. But it still is who we are, and it’s not your place to try to change that.
Maybe it isn’t such a lesbian relation, but one of feminists and women, and there is a confluence of the two. Most vegetarians are women. 1 million Americans are vegan, 79% of which are women. There is less of a divide in vegetarians; out of the 7.3 million vegetarian Americans 59% are women. It could be a topic of objectification. Women have experienced being looked at as a compilation of body parts to be consumed. Women know what it’s like to be stared at and picked apart for the pieces as opposed to being seen as a whole individual worth more than their parts.
Taken from the wonderfully titled Vegan Feminist Network, Anna Varga makes the connection between her life as a woman and a vegetarian: “My feminist roots eventually brought me to vegetarianism and then veganism. I began noticing the shared language surrounding the treatment of women and animals. Objects to be consumed. Loss of identity during objectification. Mouth-watering breasts, legs, thighs, and rumps. Being reduced to body parts for others’ enjoyment.”
This idea that you’re a real man if you consume meat; especially big, red, bloody meat, is just nonsense. There is a stigma that you are weaker for being a vegetarian. And then there is this idea that on a heterosexual date the woman is supposed to order a dainty salad while the man orders a juicy steak. Maybe I’m confused and don’t understand the term “man.” So let me look it up…. “an adult male human.” Yeah I’m no scientist, but according to the internet being a man is based on your chromosomes not your meal choices. Personally I think a real man is one who identifies as such. Forget about the norms; there is no box you need to fit in as a particular sex or gender. Okay, but let’s go with stereotypes for an example: say you are a straight, bodybuilder, fratboy and you eat quinoa with apricots, pecans, and scallion vinaigrette that is just as fine as if you are a skinny, genderqueer, librarian who eats pork ribs for lunch. As long as you enjoy what you eat and it’s the diet that keeps your body healthy.
I do not think being a vegan or vegetarian is for everyone, and I do not think you are a better person for having a particular diet. I also do not believe that because you are in a certain group (i.e. queer, feminist, liberal, woman) you should eat in a certain way. But I do think there are interesting connections between meat and sexuality. There is much more to be said on this topic, and I am looking forward to reading The Sexual Politics of Meat: A Feminist Vegetarian Critical Theory to find out more.
And to bring veganism and sex together in one last comment, let me tell you about vegansexuality; it’s where vegans only have sexual relations with other vegans!
Also please check out the amazing A Queer Manifesto by Rasmus Simonsen