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Examples Of Desserts

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1 INTRODUCTION

Caitlin Hines discusses in her research "Rebaking the Pie: The Woman as Dessert Metaphor" that there is "a consistent, widespread, generally unconscious and undocumented metaphor in English equating women-as-sex-objects with desserts" (Hines 1999: 145). Women as dessert metaphor functions both in linguistic expressions, such as tart and cookie, and in customs, for example women jumping out of cakes (ibid: 145). Hines argues that the woman as dessert metaphor reduces women to objects, sexualizes and belittles women, making women seem like powerless, inanimate objects. Moreover, she makes a point that women are not just objects, but sweet, and not just desserts, but pieces or slices. She uses Sally McConnell-Ginet's theory that …show more content…

She states that she is "not a piece of cake", yet she mentions the frosting of her heart and implies about the existing metaphor with the piece of cake expression Heart seems to be representing the cake as it has a frosting. Moreover, the woman as dessert metaphor does not just refer to women as desserts, but "pieces or slices", as Caitlin Hines states in her research (1999: 146). In the example 1, the singer explains to the receiver that the receiver will miss the slice of heaven she gave him or her last night. In this context, the slice of heaven seems to refer to a vagina or intercourse in general since hunger and eating are metaphors for sex (Kovecses 2002: 196). Furthermore, as desserts, women can be "simply done without" (Hines 1999: 148), and this aspect is depicted in the example 1 with the receiver first "taking a slice" of the singer and then discarding …show more content…

Rihanna states that a man wants to "lick the icing off", using cake and eating as metaphors for sex. Moreover, in the example 4, blowing candles out could be a metaphor for an orgasm.

Unlike Trey Songz and Rihanna's songs, Melanie Martinez's "Milk and Cookies" does not have any sexual allusions. However, it still depicts the use of the woman as dessert metaphor:

(5) I'm fucking crazy, need my prescription filled Do you like my cookies? They're made just for you A little bit of sugar, but lots of poison, too (Martinez 2015b)

As Caitlin Hines defines in her research, the woman as dessert metaphor reduces women to sinful and decadent (1999: 148), which is shown in the example 5. In the example, the female singer is offering her poisonous cookies to the receiver, making a connection with women and cookies. The example could be interpreted in an abstract sense. The singer is sweet with "a little bit of sugar", but also sinful: "but lots of poison, too".

R. Kelly's "Cookie" is filled with sexual allusions and is a metaphor for sex:

(6) You gon' wanna claim this dick, fuck with a nigga -- Mmm, like an Oreo I love to lick the middle like an Oreo (turn

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