Men Eat Meat, Women Eat Salads
You are what you eat. Who know that phrase could have so much truth behind it. These days men and women can't order what they want simply because of society's "restrictions." Have you ever considered that what you order conveys a particular gender? This idea was never really brought to my attention until I experienced it first hand.
It all started when female co-worker and I got invited to attend a soft opening of a restaurant near our work. Upon arriving we were handed a menu which only presented us with two choices of meals. We were told that we both could not order the same item so that the chefs could get experience cooking all the menu items. We came to the conclusion that every table had a different menu that had other different items to select from.
Looking at the menu were got a little frustrated seeing as the options were a shredded pork burger with fries and the other was a salad. Obviously we both wanted the burger. We then asked our waitress for a different menu in hopes that both items would be of equal liking. Getting the second menu we got even more frustrated with the choices: a steak with sweet potato fries and then a veggie burger with a fruit on the side. Yet again neither of us wanted the veggie burger.
Our waitress could tell we were frustrated and let us order the same item; which needless to say was the steak. We inferred that the menus for two were made as if it was a man and woman—where the salad or veggie burger was the "woman" meal leaving the steak and burger to the man.
This experience made me want to further explore this idea of food being gendered. Why is it that eating meat is portrayed to be a manly thing while eating salads reinforce feminism? Same goes for drinks. Why do men feel less inclined to order a cosmopolitan or a strawberry daiquiri? What is it with certain foods and drinks getting the girls vs. boys treatment? I think the way society has constructed and continued to reinforce this gendered nature of food and drink has an impact on men and women's gender expression.
It all started when female co-worker and I got invited to attend a soft opening of a restaurant near our work. Upon arriving we were handed a menu which only presented us with two choices of meals. We were told that we both could not order the same item so that the chefs could get experience cooking all the menu items. We came to the conclusion that every table had a different menu that had other different items to select from.
Looking at the menu were got a little frustrated seeing as the options were a shredded pork burger with fries and the other was a salad. Obviously we both wanted the burger. We then asked our waitress for a different menu in hopes that both items would be of equal liking. Getting the second menu we got even more frustrated with the choices: a steak with sweet potato fries and then a veggie burger with a fruit on the side. Yet again neither of us wanted the veggie burger.
Our waitress could tell we were frustrated and let us order the same item; which needless to say was the steak. We inferred that the menus for two were made as if it was a man and woman—where the salad or veggie burger was the "woman" meal leaving the steak and burger to the man.
This experience made me want to further explore this idea of food being gendered. Why is it that eating meat is portrayed to be a manly thing while eating salads reinforce feminism? Same goes for drinks. Why do men feel less inclined to order a cosmopolitan or a strawberry daiquiri? What is it with certain foods and drinks getting the girls vs. boys treatment? I think the way society has constructed and continued to reinforce this gendered nature of food and drink has an impact on men and women's gender expression.