Move over manosphere, TikTok girlies are embracing the carnivore diet and becoming meatfluencers

By Abby Amoakuh

Published Aug 31, 2024 at 09:00 AM

Reading time: 3 minutes

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Images courtesy of TikTok

The era of the light and snackish girl dinner is officially over. Instead, social media is afloat with influencers filling up on blocks of butter, bacon, eggs, burger patties and steaks. The category is meat, the bigger, redder, bloodier and veiner, the better. And it looks like young Gen Zers across the globe are getting their knives and forks out to put their own personal spin on the carnivore diet.

However, this dieting trend isn’t just being driven by men and the manosphere anymore. Interestingly, young women on TikTok are also enjoying their piece of this very special meat pie, promoting carnivorism as the best way to regulate hormone levels, maintain a lean bod, and promote gut health. Let’s unpack the trend together.

The carnivore diet means saying goodbye to all plant foods and exclusively feasting on meat, fish, eggs, and maybe a sprinkle of low-lactose dairy products. Think beef, chicken, pork, lamb, turkey, organ meats, and fish like salmon and sardines. Butter, lard, and bone marrow are all fair game too.

Then, take away high-lactose dairy (so, no milk or soft cheese), throw out veggies like broccoli and potatoes, and anything to do with sugar, grains and alcohol, and voila. You’re firmly on the carnivore path. Now all you need is the newest iPhone and a ring light so you can tell the entire internet about it.

Proponents of this way of eating claim that carnivorism helps with weight loss, mood swings, and blood sugar regulation. But, before you fire up the grill, health experts like those at Healthline caution that these supposed benefits aren’t backed by solid research. In fact, skipping out on essential nutrients like fibre and antioxidants could spell long-term health risks, potentially even increasing the likelihood of heart disease.

Yet, a select group of influencers are pushing the carnivore diet as the holy grail of healthy eating and a glorious return to our ancient, gory, carnivorous ways. Popular far-right figures like Joe Rogan and Lex Fridman argue that the first humans thrived on an all-meat diet, and by embracing carnivorism, we’re reconnecting with our hunter-gatherer past. And although I seriously love The Flintstones, I’m not sure it’s advisable to take dietary advice from a time when the wheel was cutting-edge technology and “gut health” or “cardiovascular disease” weren’t even in the vocabulary yet.

Still, this protein-and-fat-heavy lifestyle has gained serious traction in the past few years, specifically due to advocates in the dark societal underbelly of the right-wing manosphere.

In a world where “real men eat meat,” the idea of a guy choosing tofu over a T-bone steak has been causing a full-blown meltdown within this corner of the internet. This anxiety, which is clearly rooted in fragile masculinity and societal stigma, has given rise to the insult “soy boy.”

The word ‘soy boy’ is rooted in the idea that soy, a common meat alternative (think tofu), is too feminine and delicate. Then, there is also the unscientific yet common belief that soy products increase oestrogen levels in men (aka making them more like women), further fueling the insult.

According to Urban Dictionary, the term soy boy describes an “often bisexual or metrosexual man. [They] commonly identify as a feminist and a civil rights activist, even though they are also often rich and have never gone through any struggle. They will almost always wear pink and skinny jeans because of their frail sexuality. They tend to drive a Prius or Tesla to save the environment, or they might ride an electric bike to avoid the strain of pedalling.”

So, the term “soy boy” has become widely used to mock men who care about animals, social justice, and climate change, despite the fact we all know masculinity doesn’t begin and end with a slice of breakfast bacon.

In fact, meat and dairy product production, as we all know, are significant drivers of methane emissions, a highly potent greenhouse gas. Interestingly, the high meat consumption associated with traditional masculinity might be one of the reasons men tend to have a larger carbon footprints than women.

Yet, caring about the warming climate and society in general is somehow perceived as weak and feminine?

Who would have thought that there is such a thing as a dietary gender gap that is underpinned by toxic masculinity, or the fact that men can’t enjoy a tofu burger and attend a rally to help the planet without being…Whiny women? Make it make sense.

In a surprising turn of events, women have decided to look beyond the sexist rhetoric in the carnivore space and sink their teeth into this beefy new trend. The TikTok girly pops have grabbed their forks and jumped onto the bandwagon, claiming that carnivorous eating regulates hormone levels, eases period cramps, clears up skin, and increases fertility (Again, these claims can’t be backed up with any solid research).

27-year-old content creator Bella Ma, who posts under the moniker @steakandbuttergal, says it’s a “misconception” to think of this community as mostly men. “If you really look deeper, it’s predominantly women. Around 60 percent of my followers are women. I’m a female content creator, so I think naturally I’ll have more women. But looking at the community in general, there are tons of women thriving on this lifestyle,” the carnivore, whose favourite snacks include butter sticks, argued in an interview with The Cut.

Women’s interesting appropriation of this hypermasculine trend propelled carnivorism to the forefront of social media. By putting a little glitter and soft female spin on it (Nothing grabs the TikTok girlies more than a new cure for acne or the period crampies), they were able to remove carnivorism and enable the diet to go mainstream.

Yet, TikTok’s new love for this dieting trend also sparks serious concerns about the spread of an eating regime that many experts have condemned as unhealthy, with a potential long-term detrimental health impact. So maybe the girly pops should exercise more caution than eagerness before swapping all of their salads with steaks.