Column: Cure toxic masculinity by going vegan?

Who would share a bizarre video on Twitter where men with disturbingly enlarged vegetable genitalia dance through the streets, thrusting their hips and making plenty of uncomfortable eye-contact over a beat that pulses “I give it, I want it, I take it, I got it?" 

You guessed it: PETA. 

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has long relied on controversy to promote its messages about animal cruelty. The organization’s advertisements often use violence and sex, ostensibly to shock or seduce people into becoming vegan. In “Veggie Love,” an ad banned from the 2009 Super Bowl, models in lingerie perform oral sex on vegetables. In “I’d rather go naked,” the likes of Khloe Kardashian pose nude on billboards to discourage wearing fur.

Over the years, PETA’s ads have attracted ire from all camps. Conservatives hate them for ruining family values, like steak. Feminists hate them for objectifying women. But PETA’s latest ad is drawing criticism for its treatment of something particularly important to our #MeToo-era gender politics: masculinity.  

So what’s it all about? Veggie strap-ons?! Let’s start with the caption: “‘Traditional’ masculinity is DEAD. The secret to male sexual stamina is veggies.” 

PETA has already earned plenty of backlash for its claim that going vegan helps you last longer in bed. Moving past how outdated and regressive it feels to shame male sexual performance as a marketing technique, we arrive at the main argument, which is really problematic: toxic masculinity is the result of eating meat.

After the release last fall of the APA’s Guidelines for Psychological Practice with Boys and Men, PETA claimed that the dominance and aggression characteristic of “traditional” masculinity was destructive, not only to humans, but also to animals. As a result, the organization argued, the APA’s guidelines for working with men and boys should include ending the practice of eating animals. Put simply, the main problem with toxic masculinity was that it killed millions of animals every year, and it could be “cured” by going vegan. 

Here’s my disclaimer: I am a vegetarian of four years. I care about the Earth. I care about animals. And I care about deconstructing masculinity. But arguments like PETA’s are a gross oversimplification of the issues that surround masculinity in our time. Toxic masculinity isn’t about bad lovers or dudes who love steak; it’s about a host of culturally conditioned behaviors, like sexual harassment and bullying. 

This ad doesn’t strengthen any argument about the mistreatment of animals; instead, it dehumanizes the very people it’s trying to convince. A “new” masculinity, vegan or otherwise, will not be about diet or sexual performance. It won’t be about animals or the earth. It will be about male-identifying people and the ways they choose to move through the world. We are all responsible for the culture we create. So, to men trying to reconcile with toxic masculinity in their own lives, I say: sure, stop eating red meat, but more importantly, ask yourself how you can be accountable for shaping a “new” masculinity.