Food and Gender

Anthropology of Food ANTH 2301 Food and Gender Food is a tangible item, but people have numerous classifications and categories for it depending on their cultural background and family customs. Food is gendered in many cultures; that is, certain meals or dishes are more closely linked to a particular gender than the other. Consider your own cultural background. Would your choice of cuisine change if you were preparing a supper for only men or only women? Many social organisations and entertainment venues cater to gendered diets, despite the fact that gender-specific food choices are stereotypes of male and female nutritional preferences and every individual has their own unique tastes. • Man v. Food, a television programme that focused on "big food" and eating challenges, got some of the best ratings of any programme on the Travel Channel when it debuted in 2008. Burgers, potatoes, ribs, and fried chicken are among the items that are frequently featured and are stereotypically associated with men. The presenter also takes part in local food-eating challenges, which highlight different regional cuisines around the country. • The food delivery company; in this show, eating serves as a kind of extreme sports. In order to 'better understand takeaway and delivery', GrubHub conducted a survey in 2013– 2014 at over 30,000 different restaurants in over 700 US locations to compare the ordering preferences of men and women (GrubHub 2018). They found several noteworthy distinctions in the ordering patterns of men and women in their findings. Men bought more meat and chicken, with the most popular selections being General Tso's chicken, chicken parmesan, and bacon, while women preferred to choose more healthier alternatives, such salads, sushi, and vegetable dishes. Overall, pizza was the most popular meal for both sexes. The 1870s saw "shifting social norms—like the entry of women into the workplace—give women more opportunities to dine without men," according to food historian Paul Freedman, who also dates the origins of gendered meals and gendered food stereotypes in the United States (2019b). Restaurants catering to women have sprung up quickly, according to Freedman. Many of these served lighter cuisine, such salads and sandwiches, and some of them played on the term "ice cream saloons," referring to a kind of saloon that is more traditionally associated with men (Freedman 2015). In order to give women more alternatives for home cooking and speedier food preparation, the recipe business also expanded. Gendering food is a practice that is universal to all cultures and eras and is frequently connected to particular life phases and rituals. Social anthropologist Emile Tsékénis, studying marriage customs in the chiefdom of Batié, Cameroon, observes that the exchange of gendered foods between the couple's polygamous families formalises the marriage: the groom gives raw “male” products (plantain, raffia wine, and palm oil) to the girl's mother's co-wives, while the co-wives give the palm oil to the girl's father. The girl's side offers “female” products (yams, potatoes, and/or taro) to the husband's side. (2017, 134) This symbolic food exchange between the couple's families represents the marriage ceremony and unites their families. In many cultures, gendered meals are also a prominent part of puberty rituals, particularly for young women, as the onset of menstruation, a visible and noticeable physical change, signifies the start of female puberty. The girl and female family members prepare a corn cake together in a unique subterranean oven during the Kinaaldá, a Navajo puberty rite for young girls that occurs soon after the onset of menstruation. It is believed that the corn cake, known as an alkaan, is a recreation of the original maize cake that the Navajo goddess Changing Woman prepared. Changing Woman thanked the sun for food and life by offering a portion of her first corn cake to it after it was baked. The young girl, who is now capable of becoming a mother, commemorates her own path towards the birth of life by reenacting this ceremony. Due to the belief that dog meat enhances masculinity, several restaurants in Vietnam exclusively serve food to men (Avieli 2011). Many cultural ideas are expressed and contained in food. This is comparable to the pleasures associated with chocolate in the United States, particularly on Valentine's Day. Do you have the same views on eating and sexuality?