About Elina Vrijsen

Although an over-consumption of meat relates to health- and sustainability problems, many people, men in particular, eat more meat than recommended. An underlying cause of men’s overconsumption of meat may be the widespread belief that “real men eat meat”. This belief fits normative, patriarchal views on masculinity, but does not fit newer, more inclusive forms of masculinity. Newer forms of masculinity are gaining momentum, and at the same time, meatless diets also seem to be on the rise. The general scope of this project is to study potential connections between (not) eating meat and beliefs about masculinity. In concrete terms, we will study: (1) the representation of meat and masculinities in TV food advertising; (2) the roles of media images in the construction of the individual male identity; (3) the online production of the meat-eating male identity; and (4) the ‘sense of belonging’ of the meat-eating men through online communities. A quantitative and qualitative content analysis was used to study TV advertising about meat and masculinities (1). In-depth interviews will be used to study the role of media content in the construction of the male identity and in men’s choice to eat or not to eat meat (2). For study 3 and 4, we conduct a digital ethnography on social media posts and online communities to get an insight in how meat-eating men represent themselves and how men create a ‘sense of belonging’ in online meat-eating communities.

This project aims to gain a better understanding of the cultural connections between eating meat and beliefs about masculinities. Moreover, the outcomes may offer timely and necessary solutions to assist avid male eaters to reduce their meat intake.

Elina Vrijsen obtained a Master in Social and Cultural Anthropology at the Catholic University of Leuven in 2019. She is currently pursuing a joint Ph.D. between the University of Antwerp (UAntwerpen) and Ghent University (UGent). She is a member of the research groups MIOS (UAntwerpen), CIMS (UGent), and an associate member of AMSoC (UAntwerpen).

Elina is supervised by prof. dr. Charlotte De Backer (University of Antwerp), prof. dr. Alexander Dhoest (University of Antwerp), and prof. dr. Sofie Van Bauwel (Ghent University).  This research is funded by FWO as a Senior Research Project Fundamental Research (GO11221N), 2021-2025.