Det manliga köttet: Om köttets roll i skapandet av maskuliniteter, och den svenska hållbarhetsdiskursens genus(o)medvetenhet rörande ekologiskt hållbar köttkonsumtion

Abstract

Several studies indicate that Swedish men consume more meat than women, more frequently appear in advertisements for meat and more often than women handle the grilling of meat. Production of meat is one of the largest contributors to greenhouse-gas emissions and thereby poses a challenge for ecological sustainability. Several Swedish politicians and authorities have argued that reduced meat consumption is necessary to prevent continued global climate change. To understand and change consumption patterns we need to understand the consumer. This essay uses textual analysis to examine how Swedish men through text and images in three cookbooks use preparation and consumption of meat to construct different masculinities. Two reports concerning sustainable meat consumption are used as a complement in order to see if the ecological sustainability discourse is aware of gendered dimensions in the meat consumption. Critical discourse analysis, along with theoretical perspectives from Raewyn Connell, Judith Butler, Pierre Bourdieu, and ecofeminist Karen Warren, are then used to discuss dimensions of power, oppression and negative environmental impact resulting from masculinities. The conclusion is that the Swedish discourse concerning ecologically sustainable meat consumption could benefit from applying a gender perspective. It could reveal problematic dimensions of power, important gender related driving forces that contribute to increased meat consumption and show examples of more sustainable ways of constructing masculinities, with or without meat.