Being told meat is murder by vegetarians is one thing, but what if you were informed that eating barbecue brisket is actually making you sexist and anti-feminist.

This is the belief of a study recently published in the Journal of Feminist Geography, which argued “hegemonic masculinity implies an imperative to eat meat” and helped concrete other power hierarchies as well.

For the purpose of the research, professor Anne DeLessio-Parson spoke with vegetarians from Argentina to discover the diet itself is a political act that helps break down the gender binary.

“The decision to become vegetarian does not itself destabilize gender, but the subsequent social interactions between vegetarian and meat-eater demand gender enactment — or resistance,” she explained.

As an example of destabilizing gender norms, she suggested male vegetarians opt to spend more time in the kitchen than out on the grill as expected.

“Refusing meat therefore presents opportunities, in each social interaction, for the binary to be called into question,” DeLessio-Parson explained.

She said she started the study after spending five years as a vegetarian in Argentina, where she learned the diet wasn’t just a lifestyle choice, but a feminist act. DeLessio-Parson believes vegetarianism is a way women can assert their agency and autonomy.

“One of the ways [women] push back against patriarchy, they say, ‘This is my body. You don’t get to tell me what comes in and out,’” she told Campus Reform.

DeLessio-Parson also believes that even though many men in Argentina “still have these very hegemonic masculinity traits,” male vegetarians “seem more egalitarian and respectful” and “more open about talking about how sexism exists.”

She closed her argument by suggesting vegetarianism can help destabilize hierarchies and drive social change.

“If we can pay more attention to what we put in our bodies….we can create a better sense of peace in the world. Vegetarianism is a part of that,” DeLessio-Parson wrote.