Media's Negative Effects On Gender Stereotypes

Upon receiving a salad, burly and masculine Parks and Recreation character Ron Swanson says “There’s been a mistake. You’ve accidentally given me the food that my food eats.” This response, while fictional, drives the societal response which often comes with food and our gendered perception of it. The norm for men is to eat meat and large amounts of it. While women, generalized as the submissive gender tend to order a salad while out at a restaurant. Additionally, media advertisements for foods such as yogurt or chocolate usually target women concerned with their health or figure. From men at the barbeque to women laughing while eating a salad, we will explore how the gendered language of food in the media affects the health and choices of

In most households, people reported having their father or other male figures responsible for the grilling outdoors. Grilling is a man’s activity, yet in any other aspect cooking and food preparation is traditionally attributed to the woman. Grilling is the one scenario where it is traditionally acceptable for the man to prepare the food. The semiotics of meat is frequently gendered towards men because of the relationship which meat has with sex. Both meat and sex, seen as male activities, often use negative language to describe parts of women’s bodies as meat. Words like breast and thigh separate both the food from the animal it comes from as it also has the potential to separate a women’s body from the rest of

Men being more aggressive, while women are the submissive gender and tend to be more aware of their food choices to keep up an acceptable body image. Body image is one reason why women may tend to eat less or chose to eat foods with fewer calories, while for men this is not as big of an issue and is even seen as more masculine to consume large amounts of unhealthy food. These healthy habits may account for why females are disproportionately more likely to be vegetarian or vegan over men. Another explanation can relate to feminist ideology. If women believe in causes such as women’s rights, they are likely to believe in other causes such as animal or environmental rights and are more likely to become a vegetarian because of the empathy they have towards others. Within this analysis, only two genders are discussed, which does not address the full range of identities and expressions. Additionally, it does not identify the implications of gendered food on those who are non-binary or gender non-conforming. Both of these are limitations to the interpretation