Men who eat meat should be banned from having sex, animal rights group claims

The German branch of the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) believes all men who eat meat should avoid having sex - because it's a symptom of "toxic masculinity."

The group claimed that men contribute much more to the climate crisis than women, mainly by how much meat they eat.

It referenced research from last year published in the scientific journal PLOS One, which found that men emit 41 per cent more greenhouse gases than females because of their eating habits.

The research suggested that women should embark on a "sex strike to save the world" and even mentions preventing carnivorous men from having children. It noted that every child not born would save 58.6 tonnes of CO2 a year.

"Who doesn't know them, the suburban fathers handling beer bottles and barbecue tongs, who sizzle 70-cent sausages on their €700 grill," said Daniel Cox, the campaign team leader for PETA Germany.

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He also accused dads of seemingly proving their manhood through conspicuous meat consumption.

"The fact that Germany's 'grill masters" believe they have to prove their masculinity to themselves and their peers by consuming meat is not only to the detriment of the animals.

"Now there's scientific evidence that toxic masculinity also harms the climate."

"Now there's scientific evidence that toxic masculinity also harms the climate." iStock

As well as suggesting a ban on sex and reproduction, Cox also believes there should be an extensive meat tax of 41 per cent for men.

"For all fathers who still grill meat and still want children with a future worth living on a livable planet, we recommend changing their lifestyle," he said.

The proposed ban on sex in meat-eating men caused some anger in Germany, which is famous for bratwurst and schnitzel.

Best-selling tabloid newspaper Bild printed the story on its front page, dubbing it a "crazy suggestion."

Alois Rainer, an MP from Germany's Christian Social Union party, who is also a master butcher, said the idea was "total nonsense."

And UK Conservative MP Alicia Kearns said it was a 'sexist assumption' to suggest men eat meat and women don't and that women don't enjoy sex as much as men so it can be used as a tool.

"It just feeds in to all the worst narratives of the '90s that women use sex, it's not something they enjoy, that they should use it as a tool against men," she told LBC's Cross Question.

On the other hand, Dr Carys Bennett, a corporate projects manager at Peta UK, explained to LBC that it was supposed to be "a tongue in cheek suggestion."

"We don't really care about your sex life… what we do care about is the planet and the animals we share it with," she said.

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