Gender Roles And Food Production Expectations

Families are different today than they were fifty years ago. Not just regarding the social changes with gay couples, divorced couples, and single parents, but other changes around us have caused the family to evolve. The invention of the television, the internet, and even freezers and microwaves have changed how the family functions. Compounding changes in the world around us, the treatment of women as equals has also adjusted the dynamic in households. In the novel Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, by Barbara Kingsolver, the author pins the changing of our family culture, with regards specifically to mealtime, on the women’s liberation movement from the sixties. (126) Family mealtime has changed over the years, but there are multiple reasons for its perceived demise. The women’s liberation movement gave women the chance to leave the kitchen and enter the workforce, but changes to the family meal began before women started taking up careers alongside men. Food processing, personal electronics, and the way our society raises children, have all changed how we eat together.

The excerpt ‘Turkey’s in the Kitchen’ by Dave Barry was written to portray his thoughts on gender roles in a common setting. Barry’s purpose in writing this piece is to address the steryotypes that are placed on men and women’s roles in household duties by using a humorous approach. The author uses personal anecdotes, humor, and diction to establish pathos and ethos to appeal to the audience.

Shortly after our visit to the Lofgren’s, I married my fiancée, which concluded my six-month long residence with my grandmother. Subsequent to my moving out, Grandma resided alone in her house for several years and on nearly every Sunday, “just in case someone might drop in after church,” made a delicious roast beef dinner with mashed potatoes and gravy. During the first years of our married life, Kathy and I frequently dropped in after church to dine and visit with my endearing

Sociology considers family as a major agent of socialization in society especially when it pertains to teaching gender roles. Within this institution, the recurring social practices and behaviors cause individuals to internalize learned rules. Gender is very frequently policed, and society designates different behaviors for masculine and feminine individuals. To be viewed as a competent member of society, one must correctly display their gender to fit into preestablished roles. A large part of these roles in a family setting ties to expectations of housework for men and women. Specifically, women and the phenomena known as the second shift where they find themselves essentially working two jobs, both in their workplace and then housework. (Class

From the food we eat, to the foods we are believed we should it, and the way people of different genders interact with food production and food industry itself depends on whether the individual is a male or female. Sobal (2005) discusses that our society genders the foods we eat; foods like meat, potatoes, pizza, burgers, and beer are often coded as masculine foods while foods like salad, yogurt, fruit, and chocolate are viewed as feminine foods. Meat is so engrained as a man's food that when a man decides to go vegetarian he is often seen as less of a man in society, with fathers often being concerned about their son's decision to go vegetarian (Sobal 2005). Judging and critiquing the vegetarian man disempowers a normally powerful person. Counihan (1999) addresses the way the genders eat and are told to eat; men being told to heartedly and a lot, women daintily and sparingly. Counihan (1999) also expresses that for women, eating is a way to exhibit control, with many women saying that eating in front of the opposite sex makes them nervous because they don't want to look like pigs; this is not a new phenomenon however. In one of his articles, Michael Owen Jones (2007) tells an anecdote of a young woman in the 1950s that ate steak before her dates so that she was able to eat daintily when she was on her date, saying that even though she had a healthy appetite, she didn't want to scare

This book shows how as women took on the gender male roles they still managed to food ration and shortages. Women found creative yet effective ways to clothe, feed, and care for their families in the absence of the men.

It was a cold November evening when my family gathered at an uncle’s house to celebrate our Thanksgiving. One of my aunts brought her typical marshmallow yams, and one of my uncles brought their typical banana bread. Another brought Soba Salad, and another brought Spicy Kimchi Squid. As the food gathered to the dining table, just as everyone had arrived, we all gathered in the living room. My grandfather sitting on the couch as the head figure of the family brought out a book that everyone knew very well, the Bible. As we began to worship our God, in the middle of one of my grandfather’s sermon, an alluring aroma filled the room all the children, including myself, began to drool. It was of course, the main dish, the ham. As we finished our

The year of 2003 my family had lost six people. My grandma, uncle, great grandpa, and one of my cousins, everyone seemed a little empty. As the day went on my parents, along with a few other family members started warming up. I could hear my grandpa’s obnoxious laugh from the other room and my demented teenage cousins wrestling upstairs. The timer for the turkey finally dinged letting us know the meat was ready to eat. My cousin Jessica and I set up all the food as well as drinks; everyone filled their plates as high as they could sat down to feast. I of course made a heaping plate of hot food but I was not able eat much; I felt so sleepy and nauseous. Instead of enjoying quality time with my family I retreated to the couch and slept until it time to leave.

When my step mother and I first walked into the VFW we were automatically surrounded by Filipino-American people. The party that I am attending is called an International/ Fil-Am Club party and was the Saturday before father’s day. According to Melcar they have these parties monthly for different occasions. I was excited to come not only to spend time with my stepmother and my father, but I was also excited to learn more about her culture. When we walked in I saw many small groups sitting at long tables laughing and talking with each other in a different language that I could not understand. It was around six o’clock and I was extremely hungry. The whole gymnasium smelt amazing and I made a V-line for the food area shortly after we found our seats. The tables were full of food that I have never seen before and some that I was kind of familiar with. They were very colorful, vibrant, and interesting food. Some I had seen Melcar make before, like the spring rolls for example. I have watched her take all the ingredients from scratch and mush them together with her bare hands very tightly. They form into tight perfect little rolls and she fries them in bubbling hot oil. I filled my plate full, because I was familiar with them and knew what was in them. Mel came up behind me and I started asking her about the other food. She did her best to explain to me what they were and many of them I had never heard of before. We laughed as I poked the octopus with a

In a Mintel report by Ihekweazu (2011) it is found that the number of women in employment has increased and is set to increase by 1.5% within the next five years, this is quite an important social change within the external environment. This is due to the fact that women are more inclined to east breakfast at home, this therefore has a huge impact on the children within the family as it means theoretically it will be easier for parents to ensure their child is having breakfast. It also means that they have more control over what they are eating.

     The early 1900s saw most American meals prepared in the home by women, characteristically housewives. Caring for the home was considered a full-time career for married women, and the work associated was typically legitimate as such, with the average woman spending forty-four hours a week preparing (and cleaning after) meals, with an additional seven hours for laundry and general housecleaning (Bowers, 2000). Food was prepared from scratch, using coal or wood stoves and water that often needed to be transported from a pump (Bowers, 2000). And this food was prepared for an average household size of 4.8 family members (Bowers, 2000). In 1900, sixty percent of the U.S. population lived in rural areas, and women also did much of the gardening and canning as necessary (Bowers, 2000).

Gender inequality is one of the central themes in the novel The Kitchen God’s Wife by Amy Tan. I think that the title “The Kitchen God’s Wife” itself recognizes that many individuals believe that a woman's role in society pertains to completing domestic chores. Her husband, the God, dominates over her actions in the kitchen. Basically, woman have no position, neither outside or inside the sphere of their home. It is revealed that social divisions between males and females in China continue from early childhood and last until late adulthood. To begin with, Winnie Louie is taught the importance of obeying others, putting others ahead of herself, and maintaining healthy relationships. When she first gets her period, her aunt tells her that a

The family I visited consisted of a mother, father, and daughter. They all greeted me very warmly. I followed their lead and made observations as to whether I should take my shoes off or leave them on. They provided a shoe rack where everyone already placed their shoes. I took mine off and placed them on the rack. After greeting me, the mother and daughter disappeared into the kitchen. The father guided me to the dining table and explained that dinner was almost ready. We sat at a round table that had a large wall hanging of Buddha. The daughter brought out some tea which she served first to her father and then me. The daughter went back to the kitchen. After a few minutes the mother and daughter emerged carrying large plates of food. The mother placed a plate of chicken, beef, and shrimp in the center of a flat glass wheel located at the center of the table. The daughter placed a bowl of rice, saucer, and chopsticks (including a fork just for me) in front of every place

8). The traditional views of gender roles are indeed quite different from the modern views. The men in society are the bread-winners where as the women take care of the children and home. There are basic and common work roles, however in terms of behaviour and involvement there are gender role distinctions. The sex roles generally play out in modern society as well, some sex roles and stereotypes for girls are that they are “nonaggressive, nonathletic, emotionally expressive, tender, domestic, and nurturing. Boys on the other hand are “aggressive, value achievement, attain goals through conflict, and work towards monetary success” (Whicker and Kronenfeld, 1986; pp. 8). The males in the society are “emotionally anesthetised, aggressive, physically tough and daring, unwilling or unable to give nurturance to a child” (Lewis and Sussman, 1986; pp. 1). These traits are carried out by this particular gender mostly outside the society to demonstrate their strength. Those individuals who ignore to carry out these personality traits are seen as weak and unmanly. The women on the other hand are given the responsibility of looking after the family and are supposed to have the opposite personality traits. For instance a woman can show emotions but not outside of the family because of the shame that would bring to the

Some of my earliest memories with my family take place around a dinner table. Back then, I sat in a booster seat, because the table towered over me like a skyscraper. One night, as I picked through my vegetables in hopes of identifying anything unworthy of eating, I couldn’t help but get distracted by my parents’ voices as they discussed adult things. For me, dinnertime was the part of the day that I spent scrutinizing every piece of food on my plate. For my parents, however, it was so much more; every night, they would sift through the details of their days, discussing and debating every topic in the world. I watched as they listened to each other intently, accepted each other’s ideas, and grew closer together. I desperately tried to understand their