19 Jul Fellas, Is It Gay to Save the Planet?
As we careen toward more possible human extinction, the association of environmentalism with femininity and homosexuality seems more and more absurd. And yet it persists!
Stephen, a 23-year-old Canadian, is telling me about an otherwise uneventful opening shift at his job as a barista that turned ugly when serving a burly male customer. “We were chatting, and he asked why I had a bowl full of coffee grounds,” he explains. “I told him it was because we compost them.” At this point, Stephen says the man “freaked,” and his previously friendly demeanor shifted. “He said I was a ‘fairy' for caring about the environment, and he was kind of angry about it.”
Jeff, a 34-year-old political consultant in Nebraska, says hookupdate.net/es/xxx-dating-review/ he's had his masculinity similarly questioned because of the small hatchback he drives for environmental reasons. “I live in a college town with a lot of truck-driving country kids, and when I was using my Honda Fit as an Uber driver, I'd get comments like, ‘Pretty manly car' and ‘Do you like them small?'” Cam, a 39-year-old Torontonian working in the energy sector, says his decision to carry reusable bags and cups provokes much of the same: “It's mostly at work, from dominant white men with conservative mindsets, comfortable in their bubble. They'll say stupid shit like, ‘Nice purse' or ‘That's a pretty cup, does it come in men's?'”
Recent studies confirm that not eating meat is still seen as unmanly , that men eschew reusable shopping bags to avoid looking gay and that men who feel emasculated compensate by harming the environment . Meanwhile, one of the far right's favorite insults is “ soy boy ,” a term that mocks urban liberals with green lifestyle markers like plant-based diets.
One of them is Josh, a 31-year-old IT worker in South Louisiana, who is often made fun of for his tote, reusable bottle, occasionally vegetarian diet and lack of desire to drive a truck.