Shocker: Cultures Find Meat More Manly

Here's some not-so-surprising news from the science world: Researchers have discovered that there is a cultural link between meat and manliness, especially in muscle meat.

In a study published in the Journal of Consumer Research, researchers examined the link between metaphors and meat, finding that people rated meat as more masculine than vegetables, and subjects also viewed male meat-eaters as more manly than vegetarians.

"To the strong, traditional, macho, bicep-flexing, all-American male, red meat is a strong, traditional, macho, bicep-flexing, all-American food," the authors wrote.

Americans aren't the only ones who think meat equals manly. Study authors conducted research in the United States and Britain, but they also looked at 23 foreign languages that use gendered pronouns. In most languages, meat was used with a male pronoun, and the topic of meat tended to bring out more masculine words. Meanwhile, vegetables and vegetarian options aren't getting the same rep.

"Soy is not [macho]," the authors wrote. "To eat it, [men] would have to give up a food they saw as strong and powerful like themselves for a food they saw as weak and wimpy." We wonder what Popeye would say.