Beefed-up feeds: Young men interpreting meat-masculinity scripts on Instagram

Abstract

Cultural associations between meat consumption and masculinity are increasingly produced and circulated through social media. While existing research has focused mainly on how meat and masculinity are represented online, this study examines how men themselves interpret and negotiate such representations. Drawing on focus group discussions with 22 men aged 19–36, it adopts a reception-based approach to explore how young male Instagram users make sense of meat-related content. Three recurring content purposes were identified: health influencing, indulgent spectacles, and instructional content. Across these categories, participants neither simply accepted nor rejected dominant meat-masculinity scripts. Health-oriented content reinforced ideals of strength and discipline but was tempered by scepticism towards excess and commercialization. Indulgent spectacles were embraced as social and pleasurable yet provoked discomfort when excess, waste, or visible animal bodies disrupted moral distance. Instructional content was largely perceived as legitimate and empowering, positioning culinary skill as a valued form of masculine competence. Overall, the findings show that masculine meat identities are sustained through selective alignment, moderation, and ethical self-positioning. The study contributes to research on men and masculinities by demonstrating how traditional masculinity is reproduced through everyday interpretive labour within digital food cultures rather than through uncritical endorsement.