To the editor: While I appreciate Mark Hawthorne's essay, I question his claim that the reason three-quarters of vegans are women has a lot to do with veganism being seen as unmanly.
With the help of figures collected by the nonprofit Faunalytics, I analyzed the gender makeup of animal advocacy and found that around 80% of people in this field are women; that includes animal rescuers who may eat the species they don't rescue.
This may be less about manly appearances and more an indication of gender differences in character traits. Statistics on violent crime make these differences clear.
The enormous participation of women in animal defense supports the notion that they tend to be more loving, compassionate, and motivated to protect those with less power. Surely those same qualities lead women to fields like nursing and teaching, where they are overrepresented and underpaid.
Animal rights and women's rights are interconnected. Therefore, I find myself less interested in trying to persuade men to become vegan and more eager to create a society where women have more power to make decisions.
Hawthorne hopes that veganism can be associated with masculine values, but our greatest hope for animals and Mother Earth is a society in which feminine values have true influence.
Karen Dawn, Santa Barbara
The writer is founder and president of DawnWatch, a non-profit organization that defends animals.
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To the editor: Veganism is really manly.
The International Agency for Research on Cancer classifies certain types of meat as carcinogenic for two common cancers: colon and prostate. Real men shouldn't let others get cancer.
We spend billions on colonoscopies, mammograms and other medical interventions, when a plant-based diet is an effective way to reduce cancer risk.
America is too meat oriented. The recommended daily amount of protein is about one gram per kilogram of body weight, but most Americans consume twice that. Excessive protein consumption can increase a person's risk of kidney and heart disease.
Vegan dishes cost less than meals containing meat, resulting in less tips and income. So restaurants don't like vegans. Real men can change that.
Ghan-Shyam Lohiya, MD, Santa Ana
