EAT, DRINK, AND CHOOSE YOUR GENDER
Based on society's gendered nature towards particular food, what you eat is essentially who you are--how you identify yourself.
Society's Heteronormative Nature of Food: The Fortification of Gender Sterotypes
While some of the sterotypes of food consumption between men and women may be true on a primitive level, they are frequently exaggereated by American culture and advertisers to create an even greater gendering of foods. It goes without saying that society has constructed definining qualities of masculinity and feminity. It now seems as though food comsumption is yet another way to ensure you conform to the norm and "perform" your gender by embracing those qualities.
Riddah Shah (2010) in her article Men Eat Meat, Women Eat Chocolate quotes Brian Wansink, author of Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More than We Think, saying: "People are more likely to eat food when they associate it with qualities they'd like to see in themselves. So a man who wants to be strong and masculine is more likely to eat a food described as strong and masculine--hence the prevalence in American culture of meat as a manly food."
Food consumption in our society is highlighted by gender roles and fulfilling those roles by expressing those qualities that are in congruence with your gender. Men are expected to be strong and buff while women are expected to be beautiful and thin and thus are pressured to be more calorie conscious for fear of alienation. This is why beer and burgers are most often marketed towards men while salads, yogurts, and fruits are more pushed towards women. It is the way masculinity and femininity are constructed that allows society to put these "restrictions" on what men and women should eat and drink.
For many people however, gendering does not even cross their mind. They will enjoy foods across this perceieved feminine/masculine spectrum. Case in point, I love a good steak and fries but I also love white wine and chocolate. Nonetheless, a good majority of people do fall prey to these gender stereotypes and make dietary choices accordingly. Gender socialization does contribute to specific eating patterns of masculine vs. feminine individuals--that is, the gendered nature of food and drink does in fact exist.
Riddah Shah (2010) in her article Men Eat Meat, Women Eat Chocolate quotes Brian Wansink, author of Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More than We Think, saying: "People are more likely to eat food when they associate it with qualities they'd like to see in themselves. So a man who wants to be strong and masculine is more likely to eat a food described as strong and masculine--hence the prevalence in American culture of meat as a manly food."
Food consumption in our society is highlighted by gender roles and fulfilling those roles by expressing those qualities that are in congruence with your gender. Men are expected to be strong and buff while women are expected to be beautiful and thin and thus are pressured to be more calorie conscious for fear of alienation. This is why beer and burgers are most often marketed towards men while salads, yogurts, and fruits are more pushed towards women. It is the way masculinity and femininity are constructed that allows society to put these "restrictions" on what men and women should eat and drink.
For many people however, gendering does not even cross their mind. They will enjoy foods across this perceieved feminine/masculine spectrum. Case in point, I love a good steak and fries but I also love white wine and chocolate. Nonetheless, a good majority of people do fall prey to these gender stereotypes and make dietary choices accordingly. Gender socialization does contribute to specific eating patterns of masculine vs. feminine individuals--that is, the gendered nature of food and drink does in fact exist.