Food gendering is a sociological connection between food and gender, in society. This concept highlights gender norms within society and their influence on individuals’ food preferences. Gender construction can help to better explain this intersection and define its role in society. Identification of gender stereotypes, associated with males and females, allows for food relationships to be classified and evaluated. Males, as constructed in society, are thought to eat mostly meat, maintain a powerful demeanor, and demonstrate strength. Females, opposite to males, are linked with healthy food, like salad, as well as embodying fragile characteristics. These are masculine and feminine stereotypes readily used and implemented into everyday life. Relation between food and gender is analyzed, as well as the interactions amongst the two, present today. Food gendering and language are interconnected, furthering the relationship between gender and food. Media channels have emphasized and amplified food gendering, creating deeper connections with larger sociological concepts, such as body image. Throughout society, food gendering is continually at work, constructing gender, as well as impacting greater relationships, faced on a daily basis.
Looking at this Dr.Pepper TEN commercial, it is important to recognize how gender, food, and media work together. This commercial recognizes associations between food and gender, which individuals encounter everyday. Why are men constructed in a fierce manner? Why is Dr. Pepper off-limits for women? How has media impacted food and gender relationships? Exploring these sociological questions helps establish a more profound meaning, revealing the context of food gendering confronted day-to-day.
On a date, a man may order a hardy steak, while a woman would typically order a delicate salad. Why this has become part of our everyday life, is the question to be pondered. What qualifies steak and other meat products as manly foods, while salads, wraps, and quiche are categorized as feminine selections? Altering theories predict that our ancestors created food standards, different genders took part in specific diets, or the presence of constructed gender expectations led to food preference.
Looking back in the past, we as a society have constructed a perception that men represented cavemen, adorned with huge muscles and a rugged persona. Recognizing this gender construction, it was thought that men, due to their large frame and dominate characteristics, ate a primarily meat based diet. As the hunters of society, men required more energy to hunt for their food, consuming significantly more meat than women. Remaining close to their shelter, women were thought to embody the characteristics of the gatherer, consuming a vegetable based diet. With little energy involved in gathering, women did not require as much meat. Eating “mostly plant-based foods such as fruits and vegetables…,” women, in the past, set the standard for gendered food consumption. By understanding the roles of males and females, it becomes clear food gendering is directly related to the way men and women ate, years past. Recognizing the societal construction of food gendering today, it is important to see how the past has influenced its perpetuation today.
Altering viewpoints of food gendering proclaimed men to be more willing to increase their caloric intake, through meat consumption. Women, as seen through media, have been shown as dainty and delicate, opposing the consumption of large amounts of meat. No matter the consumer, high rates of meat intake, especially red meat cause serious health risks. According to a study performed by the Harvard School of Public Health, “eating one serving per day of red meat might increase [the] risk of dying from cancer or heart disease by thirteen percent.” Percentages can be reduced by seven to nineteen percent by “substituting white meat, fish, low-fat dairy or nuts for red meat at one meal per day.” As seen through studies conducted, healthier and lighter choices are becoming the norm for a woman's nutritious diet, but continue to be a staple of the male daily intake. Men are not recognizing the repercussions of a diet dominated by meat, while women have been recognized as being more informed on the potential health hazards.
Men, through societal gender construction, aim to embody a masculine persona, whereas women strive to characterize femininity. Men eat specific foods, such as meat, to increase weight and build muscle, while women consume a healthy variety of fruits, vegetables, and white meat, to maintain body image. Men, at the expense of avoiding fruits and vegetables, have a focused diet on protein intake. Director of the Cornell University Food and Brand Lab, Brian Wansink, told LiveScience, "the vast majority of these gendered words… associate meat with the masculine pronoun."
The connotation of foods can be classified as “feminine” or “masculine,” streaming from a seemingly observable and traditional perspectives. A different shape and form is taken when gendering language. While viewing other cultures, and their respective languages, we see a different distinction in the formation of certain nouns. Nouns, in languages like Spanish and French, are emphasized and separated through genders. To English speakers, this seems obscure because in our language words do not apply to specific genders. How can steak be considered a girl or boy? This is the foundation in understanding the fundamentals of many other languages. Within the French language, the word “beef” is translated to “le bouf,” with “le” being a masculine article, while “ice cream” is translated as “la glace,” “la” being a feminine article. Food gendering has been integrated into the language of our society, as if to reinforce the commonly held belief, some foods are more masculine or feminine than others.
A possible explanation for the presence of food gendering, in language, could be that food personifies our identities. As heard and regurgitated, throughout society, “You are what you eat.” This belief holds that properties of food are a symbolic representation of the individual. For example, the meatiness of a steak may in turn embody the physicality of a man, or the sweetness of cake could represent the charm of a woman. We may even go as far as to say, a man eating a burger may take on characteristics of the food, such as thickness, since society tells us that men ought to be larger. On the other hand, a woman eating a salad, envisions frailty, parallel to the substance of the salad she's consuming. This is one conclusion drawn, to explain the food gendering present in language.
With a better understanding of gender, and its intersection with food, it is important to recognize how this relationship presents itself in everyday life. Individuals are unconsciously affected by food gendering, due to norms, we as a society, have created. The link between gender and food has persisted as a result of larger socialization forces, predominantly media. The role of media has created an intertwining relationship between food and gender, leading to an amplified focus on body image. Food gendering, portrayed though media, has furthered and impacted many facets of life, with a particular emphasis on the body.
Media, the means by which ideas, values, beliefs and norms are communicated to society, has enhanced food gendering, through visual channels. Gender, in relation to food, is something not widely recognized but placed at the forefront of society by an overwhelming presence of influential media. Through this socialization mechanism, females are constructed as an ideal form, with a particular shape, linking to food trends. As Susan Bordo recognized, in Hunger as Ideology, there is a “…universal equation of slenderness with beauty…” women feel they must strive to attain. Aiming to achieve a slim, firm figure is a media trend, having profound effects on diet and a focus on healthy options. Food is now displayed in the presence of ideal body images, restricting female desire for particular foods. Bordo recognized, in the past, females had free, easy relationships with food, which have been disrupted and altered by media and the depiction of slender body images. For males, media is promoting powerful, masculine gender constructions. Men have been placed in a position of authority, aiming to obtain a strong, large figure, resulting in a more hearty appetite for food. Media is promoting these spontaneous, expansive appetites as a norm for males, fostering close relations between males and food. With these opposing depictions of body, males and females are being affected by media socialization, in independent ways.
In 2008, a commercial for Burger King showed how influential media can be in shaping our perception of food, in relation to gender. This ad, I Am Man, typifies how media has taken food gendering to a heightened level. By displaying gender norms, ideal feminine and masculine figures and food characterization, society gains an idea of how they are connected.
Just one example of media exhibiting food gendering, Burger King understood societal norms, being able to play up gender construction, in relation to body image and food preferences. The woman, in the ad, is depicted as pretty and petite, appearing to be satisfied with her small plate of food. The man is depicted as a dominant, powerful individual who is displeased with a small, feminine portion of food. With his large figure, the man makes it clear he needs more food, but not simply quiche. This announcement links men and meat, intensifying food stratification between females and males. After viewing the video, one is left to ponder gender roles and body image relative to food preferences. From a female perspective, the commercial would guide women to think small portions of healthy food is the only accepted diet, especially if an ideal body is to be attained. Paradoxically, from a male perspective, the ad would guide men to believe meat is the conventional diet, where small portions and healthy options are not acceptable.
As seen in this Burger King commercial, media has a large role on societal views of gender, food, and body image. Food gendering, through media, has activated larger social forces, constructing ideas about the ideal body image. When exposed to media, it is important to recognize how complex relationships, such as gendered food preferences, can lead to beliefs, impacting our day-to-day lives.
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