If sustainable living is seen as 'feminine', that's bad for the planet – and women | Bhavya Reddy

Vegetarianism, reusable tote bags and Prius cars are not 'manly' enough for some. The answer is not imprinting veggie burgers with grill marks

Gender plays an important role in who is most affected by climate change - and who is most likely to contribute to it. Women are 14 times more likely to be killed as a result of extreme weather and can continue to be impacted post-disaster by problems like increased domestic violence. At the same time, environmentally-friendly practices such as carrying reusable bags, becoming vegetarian and driving smaller cars are seen as feminine and therefore undesirable for men, who can have higher carbon emissions.

Consider vegetarianism. According to one study done in Vancouver, a relatively vegetarian-friendly city: "in North America, manhood is still considered a precarious state, easily lost and requiring constant validation. Through purposefully abstaining from meat, a widely established symbol of power, status and masculinity, it seems that the vegetarian man is perceived as more principled, but less manly, than his omnivorous counterpart."