Vanity Fair is obsessed with America’s obsession with protein.
But, of course, the liberal legacy outlet isn’t pointing to the health benefits of consuming a protein-heavy diet, nor the fact that eating healthy and building muscle really has nothing to do with politics or political movements; it’s blaming MAGA and the right-wing “manosphere” for the exploding trend. (Subscribe to MR. RIGHT, a weekly newsletter about modern masculinity)
In an article published May 1, a Vanity Fair editor equates protein consumption to the “men’s rights movement” and claims it is “undeniably gendered.”
“It’s not only men who care about protein, but a mosey through recent history suggests a strong correlation between the rise of the likes of the men’s rights movement and our national lust for protein,” Keziah Weir writes.
She goes on to say that “an obsession with protein affords a masculine-coded cover on the feminine-coded world of body image and dieting—and a subject over which men can bond as bros.”
Vanity Fair: protein powders are a gateway drug to anabolic steroids. https://t.co/iPSo4ta7Kr pic.twitter.com/KBCvJkimyz
— Andrew Kerr (@AndrewKerrNC) May 5, 2025
The article also cited a study that claimed protein and muscle-building supplements were a gateway for young men to anabolic steroids, which is absurd.
All of it is absurd. Protein is a crucial nutrient, necessary for muscle repair and growth, and men and women who consume it daily out of concern for their health are not part of a vast right-wing conspiracy. Nor are the men “toxically masculine” just because they happen to eat meat more often than women. Both the average man and woman who desire to be fit, slim, muscular, what have you, aren’t going to the gym and ripping protein shakes because they want to rebel against liberal political orthodoxy; they’re motivated for their own well-being.
Vanity Fair’s article is yet another recent example of liberal media attempting to portray fitness and health as a right-wing phenomenon. In a profile of leftist streamer Hasan Piker, The New York Times equated lifting weights and staying fit with MAGA, headlining the piece, “A Progressive Mind in a MAGA Body Made for the ‘Manosphere.’” As with Vanity Fair, The Times is turning something completely apolitical into a political issue, purely for the sake of clicks and to demonize the MAGA movement and conservatives. (RELATED: Leftists Seethe At NYT For Acknowledging Being Muscular Is MAGA)
NBA legend Michael Jordan once said, “Republicans buy sneakers, too.” Well, Democrats eat protein, too, and that doesn’t make them MAGA any more than a MAGA supporter eating salad makes them a liberal.
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This article was originally published at dailycaller.com
