Carnivore diet people keep showing up on my Instagram and I’m not entirely sure why, especially given that I don’t eat red meat. The Carnivore Diet is a diet where individuals eat only animal products. This includes meat, dairy, and eggs, and excludes any plant products. The carnivore diet as we know it was first brought up in the mid 19th century, and then in 2018 gained massive internet traction through a book entitled The Carnivore Diet, by Shawn Baker, a former orthopedic surgeon and current diet influencer. It has become increasingly visible on social media, particularly as it has been taken up and made popular in far right movements. From my research on the carnivore diet, and its connections to the far right, it seems like it is most popular with white men.
The Carnivore Diet claims to be highly beneficial. People all over the internet talk about how it cured their eczema or acne or autoimmune disease or facilitated their weight loss and muscle gain. Medically and scientifically speaking, the carnivore diet is likely not safe for most people, due to the high risk of nutrient deficiencies and risk of kidney issues from consuming almost exclusively protein. The carnivore diet is one of the many fad diets trending on social media right now.
Meat and masculinity have long been tied together for American men. Meat, especially the consumption of it, is associated with strength, virility, and power. Meat consumption’s masculine associations also come from the way that meat consumption involves a violent power dynamic between the person eating the meat, and the animal they are consuming. Again, a reminder, I do eat meat, and I think eating meat is generally okay. To be a red-blooded American male, one has to eat meat. Conversely, vegetarian and vegan diets are considered feminine diets.
The Carnivore diet has emerged as the latest iteration of this meat centered masculinity and has been pushed heavily by male right wing influencers such as Joe Rogan. For the far right, masculinity is in crisis. “Real men” and their “manly” lifestyles are under attack. Eating meat and only meat is seen as a solution to this masculinity crisis. Men can get stronger and more powerful. Masculinity is not the only reason for the right wing enthusiasm for the carnivore diet. It is also seen as resistance to the left’s environmentalist goals. The carnivore diet is being used as a way of expressing political ideologies.
While there are women actively participating in the carnivore diet trend, it is still firmly based in patriarchy and white supremacy. The carnivore diet is also classed, eating exclusively animal products is expensive, and oftentimes not accessible. The narrative around the carnivore diet saving “real men” has gone as far as individuals claiming that the carnivore diet “cured” them of being transgender and/or homosexual. The carnivore diet trend is tied to this class in how it is connected to hyper-masculinity and patriarchy. The Carnivore diet and the dangerous rhetoric that comes with it is the latest of far right pipelines that continue to harm us all. All that in mind, the carnivores invading my Instagram have certainly not convinced me.
One reply on “the carnivore diet trend is weird and bad.”
Your post is so interesting. I never thought of diet plans being linked to politics but the way you explained it makes so much sense. I do see a connection between how we see meat and other such diets, and masculinity. There is a kind of essentialism in this approach to diets, that tries to revert back to what we assume were ‘caveman days’ and uses that kind of biological essentialism to promote patriarchal notions and hegemonic masculinity. It is also interesting to see that this might be linked with specific political ideals — particularly conservative ones. Makes one question what people assume some political stances to contain, and how they promote it….