Herbivore men (up-to-date term)

I grabbed a publication from teacher’s desk and skimmed it when proctoring an exam. There was an interview with盧廣仲(lu2 guang3 zhong4),a young Taiwanese singer, where he called himself a草食男(zao3 shi2 nan2), literally meaning a “vegetation-eating” man, or a herbivore man.

I had heard the term several times before and had my own assumption about the meaning of it. I think basically it’s about the mildness and unaggressiveness of a certain group of men. Contrary to carnivore, 肉食動物(rou4 shi2 dong4 wu4), they are not so “macho”男子氣概 (nan2 zi3 qi4 gai4) or男子漢(nan2 zi3 han4), nor violent, 暴力(bao4 li4).

To understand the term more, I checked online and found some information. It is said that the term was coined by a Japanese writer 深澤真紀ふかさわ まき(1967- ) and has triggered some discussions in Taiwan. Unlike Japanese men in their 40s or 50s, who had to compete intensively for job or women, there’s a growing group of younger generation, in their 20s or 30s, who are quite the opposite of the older generations. According to some girlie magazine, a herbivore man has the following traits:

1.     prefers staying home to going out.

2.     takes a keen interest in fashion and personal looks.

3.     won’t take the initiative or being aggressive in a relationship.

4.     believes in friendship between men and women without sex and doesn’t consider sex indispensable.

5.     thinks men and women are equal and the both sides should share the household expenses and chores.

As a Chinese saying goes, 物極必反(wu4 ji2 bi4 fan4), everything converts to the opposite direction when it goes to an extreme. The herbivore generation is really quite different from the traditional 武士道精神(wu3 shi4 dao4 jing shen2), Bushido or samurai spirits.

Since Taiwan had been colonized 殖民(zhi2 min2) by Japan for half a century (1895-1945), we’re no strangers to samurai spirits. My grandfather’s and great grandfather’s generations were educated in that era, and in them you see a lot of influences of this Bushido. A lot of my peers were very afraid of their fathers and had hardly talked to them as kids, because they looked so stern and serious, who never seemed to show their emotions. They were the kings who ruled the family with authority and never shared the chores.

What was once considered right has been now labeled as Chauvinism 沙文主義(sha wun2 zhu3 yi4) or 大男人主義(da4 nan2 ren2 zhu3 yi4) and reprimanded, especially by women, who used to play the role of 小女人(xiao3 nu3 ren2), little woman. With the rise of feminism and the changes of the society, there has been some interesting mixing of the stereotyped gender qualities. Men are not supposed to be always so “carnivorous” and women, so “herbivorous.” In fact, we have 肉食女(rou4 shi2 nu3), carnivore women, as a counterpart of herbivore men.

For those carnivorous grandfathers, it might be a great pain to see their grandsons to put on make-up and go shopping with their female friends. It might be very hard for them to hold back their impulse to lecture their grandsons about how they should not spend so much time at home or on their looks; how they should go out to get a wife or pursue a career. But I have to say that’s the way the world is running now, like it or not.

I always feel that women’s liberation not only liberated women, but men as well. For those women that are not so “herbivorous,” they feel free to go out to chase whatever they want. For those草食男 , they won’t feel guilty to stay home contented. The world won’t be so boring with multiple values and people won’t have to suffer because they’re forced to change into something they’re not. (The way our parents’ generation forced their left-handed kids to use right hand, for example.)

I wonder if the fact we had two world wars in the last century has anything to do with the fact that we had so many carnivore, but few herbivore men. As a woman, I love to see herbivore men coexisting with carnivore ones. The world could be more peaceful with more herbivore men, I guess. Instead of shouting “make love, not war,” perhaps all we have to say is “Eat more vegetation, less meat!” At least you get healthier that way.  

盧廣仲=卢广仲

肉食動物=肉食动物

男子氣概=男子气概

男子漢=男子汉

深澤真紀=深泽真纪

物極必反=物极必反

沙文主義=沙文主义