Male and Vegan

Traditionally there has been a pretty big association with eating meat andmasculinity; making a man! I reckon this can be seen in Homer's book'The Odyssey', big meat based meals and plenty of animal sacrifice.Don't know about you but I don't do much animal sacrificing these days,either for Gods or for myself. But it still happens a lot (the meateating...), pop along to the local family barbeque and you'll probablyfind a whole water buffalo slowly cooking away on the spit. It's an occasionfor men to gather round with a beer and chat about 'male things'. What'sall that about? Where'd this meat centered culture come from? Why thisobsession with eating dead animals? It isn't particularly good for you,the environment (stretch your mind a bit there) or for what you'veeaten, especially where factory farming is concerned.

In contemporary culture animals are treated as objects that can bemanipulated for our perceived 'needs'. The manipulators in chief are(surprise, surprise) the industry profiteers, but there is nothingparticularly manly about supporting this industry. I personally reckon(as I would being vegan) that making a stand against animal cruelty is
far more in tune with what we should be about, some people see a refusalto take part in this morbid industry as weakness, that a person cannotstand to see death or suffering. Personally, I'm against the notion ofunnecessary suffering and it's a show of strength to stand up and openlydemonstrate this, to move against the current that most people are happyto float on. If you believe in compassion for fellow sentient beingsthat cannot stand up against rampant human exploitation, then give upcow's milk, cheese, eggs and meat. Show that every day you can live alife that is different, compassion in action. The vegan argument is hereto be won. If you want to live in a better world, practical stepsneed to be taken.

Be a man, be vegan.

Kevster - UK