How are food (including drink), sex and gender related?
Introduction:
According to McAllister (2006) food and drink “must be viewed as part of a broader social and cultural context” (p. 281) in order to understand the anthropological and sociological meanings of food and drink within society. This essay will apply an anthropological and sociological lens to explore the relationship between food, sex and gender. It utilises examples from anthropological and sociological literature to further explain the relationship between food, sex and gender. This essay will focus how food and can be a marker of identity, and how food and drink express gender roles.
What is food?
According to Delaney (2004) suggests that food is not biological, it is cultural. The food that is consumed shapes culture and culture shapes food and intern shapes our identity (Delaney, 2004). Counihan (1999) agrees and suggests that food is a “product and mirror of the organisation of society…it is connected to behaviours and meanings” (p. 6). The way in which food is produced, distributed and consumed illustrates power relations, gender and sex within societies (Counihan, 1999). She explains that each society has a distinct food way which structures the community, personalities and families within the society (Counihan, 1999).
Specific societies that associate with class, caste, race and gender distributions, uses food as a tool to maintain these social systems. For example, Counihan (1999) uses India to show
Neither life nor culture can be sustained without food. On a very basic level, food is fundamentally essential for life, not simply to exist, but also to thrive. A means by which carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, nutrients, and calories are introduced into the body, food is a mechanism of survival. However, on a more abstract level, food is also fundamentally essential for culture by establishing its perimeters and dimensions and in shaping its authenticity and character. Food becomes the
When you are asked what your daily essentials are, food must be one of your answers. We all know that food means a lot to people but have you ever thought about food from another perspective? Anderson’s readings investigate food from many other perspectives. According to Anderson, food represents our views, class, power, lifestyles and identities. These ideas are true and can be found among the Trobriand Islanders. In their society, life revolves around lineage and food because lineage controls all the food. In order to make the lineage system successful, people from Trobriand Island treat yams as their wealth, social status and political power. Connecting back to Anderson’s ideologies, the idea of food represents social class is reflected by the different treatment received by the Trobriand Islanders, Islanders’ urge to work represents the connection between food and political power, and the fact that lineage is more important than oneself indicates the idea of food is identity.
This essay seeks to critically evaluate Delaney's (2010: 259) assertion that "food categories also correlate with social categories." In order to evaluate this claim, it is therefore necessary to explain what it means. In addition, the evaluation of this claim, in an anthropological context, needs be conducted through the research method of an ethnography of a meal. My argument will use the ethnographic experience of a Shabbat meal with David Horowitz's family to assess this assertion and whether it could be applied and verified through the interactions which occurred around food at this meal.
Some respondents, felt that they would becoming isolated socially if they refused to eat different foods to their family, as traditional foods are seen as important in certain cultures. Due to the different roles of the male and females in certain cultures, many of the respondents felt that the choice of what food they consumed were totally out of their control as traditionally it would be the female who cooks. (The Open University, 2014,
Parsons asserts that foodways are situated within broader social contexts from which their particular classed, gendered, and cultured meanings are imparted (s.5). These particularised meanings become signifiers of taste and cultural capital, the value of which Bourdieu describes as representing the ‘expenditure of time’ necessary to facilitate their practice (cited in Parson, 2014, p.59). Taste acts as a signifier within social groups – ‘especially classes’ – of an individual’s relative position within an implicitly understood cultural hierarchy (Bourdieu, 1984). A refined taste is determined by an individual showing preference for commodities understood as belonging to a higher cultural set whose enjoyment is dependent upon either a process of scholastic learning or a process of domestic initiation (ibid; p.2) Thus, the cultural value of certain foodways are a function of the ‘the possession of economic capital’ required to carry them out (ibid). ‘This predisposes tastes to function as markers of class’ (ibid;
Food plays a significant role in society as it is an essential component of life. Food also reflect social and cultural consumptions which represents a form of cultural capital. Some people eat to live and some people live to eat. In recent years, more and more people have dramatically become obsessed with food. There has even become a term for it called “foodie.”
From the time of Adam and eve, food is always a very essential need of human life. Due to good or bad eating habits and the difference in human body sizes is always noted. Eating a lot does not guarantee good health as eating balanced diet. Many individual eat certain groups of foods mostly due to their cultures, backgrounds, geographic locations and also the economic status of their families and their ethnic groups. Unlike other human essentials, food preserves cultures as different cultures are associated with various foods. For instance, in a gathering that has people from various locations of the world and containing different types of foods where and the mode of eating is self-service, it is observed that individual from the same region tend to consume similar types of foods the main reason being tradition and culture (Esquivel, 15). The reason various foods taste different is that they are always prepared in different styles, methods and also ingredients. It is known for centuries that any alteration on a food recipe brings a different taste which results to a different food style altogether. Laura Esquivel, an author, wrote a book by the title "Like Water for Chocolate." The book talks about the role and the importance of food. In her book, she introduces a Mexican traditional culture where the female gender is attached to the art of cooking, serving, monitoring and protecting this good
Food is both biological and social fuel. Consuming food not just enables energy, but tells a lot about human’s identity. In the context of migration, cooking becomes a particularly significant process. All the migrants belong to certain ethnic groups, membership of which they express through food choices. This concept is broadly discussed in the memoir “Me in Place, and the Place in Me” by Parvathi Raman.
Food in general plays a large role in all human beings life. We would not be able to live without it. Most people pair food with country, nationality, or even ethnicity; for an example pastas and pizza with Italy or Italian, India with curry, and United States with fast packaged food, because they are always on the go. There is always a reason for what types of food one eats.
The importance of food to identity formation is certainly not unique to the immigrant experience. Whether a part of “invisible” majority culture or “deviant” minority culture, food environments influence our constructions of credos and categories. Generally speaking, eating preferences and behaviors are part of familial and societal legacies. We may prepare the signature dishes of deceased relatives to mark holidays or guard the secret ingredients of a family recipe. In other instances, particular spices may evoke strong emotions or memories in us. Even in disordered eating behaviors, we tend to reflect social values and constraints.145
Food is the delicious thing that we make for ourrselves according to our taste and wish. Many people love to have food. There are a wide range of deliciious and yummy foods all around the world. Every place has its signature dish to represent their place. Food is the only thing where people don't comprise for anyone. There are many channels which tele-cast the food recipes, which help many people in experimenting them. We have Italian dishes, Chinese dishes, Indian dishes, etc and many more. If a person is a food lover and a good traveller can taste all the dishes all over the world. It is the choice of the individual to be a vegeterian or a non vegeterian. Different peoples have different tastes and mentalities. A few like to have vegetables
Most of society views food in a singular manner, that is, they see food and they think of it as no more than just something to shove in their mouths. However, food has been around forever, and certainly, something that is a necessary part of everyday life must play a part in our personal identities and how we view others around the world. When I first read the prompt for this paper, I admit I had to look up the meaning of gastronomy, so this acquainted me with the idea that food can be much more than what it seems to be. Three texts that we have studied this semester that have gastronomy as a major theme include Khushwant Singh’s “The Wog”, Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, and Ngitji’s “The Possum Woman”. I will use these works to
Delormier, Frohlich, & Potvin, (2009) used Giddens’ theory of structuration, specifically the concepts of social practice, the duality of the social structure, and agency to develop a conceptual framework in their research on food as a social practice. According to Giddens (1984) social practices are at the root of the constitution of both agent and society (ibid.: 1984:xxii); and social structures constitute ‘rules and resources’ which actors draw upon during practice, creating both enabling and constraining conditions of practice (ibid.: 1984: xxii, 25). It is from this perspective that Delormier, Frohlich and Potvin (2009) highlight that individual action is not determined by the social structure, but rather enacted and concretised by people through the choices they make during social practice, and that through their
Food, in itself, is a social concept, a perception of an idea that is constructed through cultural and social practice. Food is constructed through cultural practice, defined by its particular usage and representation among particular ethnic and cultural groups. Therefore, food’s significance is much more than simply satiating hunger. Take religious restrictions on pork, for example. What reason caused Islam’s belief in the pig as haram, considering it is eaten by the vast majority of the world? Simply put, why do Muslims avoid pork? This can be rationally analyzed, and is attributed to the climate and geographical limitations of foodways in the Middle East. However, as Islam spread throughout the world, the habitual action of avoiding
The distinction of gender from came from the move away from biological determinism and conservative antifeminist politics. The meaning of gender will continue to develop and will continue becoming more fluid with time.