Eating Meat Makes You Sexy: Women Prefer Men Who Eat Meat Over Vegetarians, According To Study

Research investigating how people perceive masculinity and food choices yielded unsurprising results. Studies have found that women often associate meat-eating with masculinity.

Researchers conducted three different studies in Italy. In the first and second studies, researchers examined what women found attractive in their potential partners – particularly their dietary preferences. They discovered that women had a tendency to prefer men who ate meat (omnivores) over the ones who didn't (vegetarians). Women didn't just find omnivorous men more attractive; they also had more positive feelings toward them.

Meanwhile, study two proved how this gravitation toward meat-eaters was due to them being seen as more masculine than vegetarians, thus making them appear sexier to women. "Studies 1 and 2 analyzed female mating preference for vegetarian and omnivorous partners, confirming that women preferred omnivorous men (Study 1 and 2), rated them as more attractive (Study 1 and 2), and felt more positive about them (Study 1) than vegetarians," the summary writes.

Study three focused more on men's views of femininity and masculinity regarding food selections. Researchers learned that men who saw vegetarianism as feminine were likelier to choose meat-based foods. Interestingly, these men also expected their female partners to pick vegetarian dishes.

"Women preferred omnivorous men."

"The results showed that men who perceived vegetarianism as feminine preferred meat-based dishes for themselves and expected their female partners to choose vegetarian dishes," the authors of the article explained. "Together, these findings show that gender role norms prescribing that men eat meat are actively maintained by both women and men and do in fact guide men’s food choices."

Okay, the researchers may have a point here. Gender stereotypes seem to be a big reason why women perceive omnivorous men as more masculine, and why guys assume their girlfriends would pick plant-based items. However, studies have found that men experienced a greater decrease in testosterone in response to low-fat diets – which we all know veganism and vegetarianism typically are. “Low-fat diets appear to decrease testosterone levels in men," nutritional therapist Dr. Joseph Whittaker reported in The Journal of Steroid Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. “Men with European ancestry may experience a greater decrease in testosterone, in response to a low-fat diet.”

Vegan diets are also linked with a significant decrease in muscle mass index and lean body mass compared to omnivores and vegetarians. A different study from the Netherlands indicates that vegetarian and vegan diets can increase the rate of muscle loss with aging. So maybe this goes beyond stereotypes as researchers suggested – perhaps women's aversion to vegetarians is nature's way of motivating them to find a fit and healthy partner.

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