8: Gender And Culinary Taste
(EN: This chapter is well worth skipping. It comes to no conclusion and provides very little insight on its stated topic, and is a bit of a meander across a variety of unrelated topics without a central thesis.)
The distribution of food as a means of demonstration social status is common in many human societies, with those of the highest status being granted (or taking) the most desirable foods and eating before those of lower rank. In tribal, agricultural, and other preindustrial communicates, women generally occupy a lower rank - but even in industrial societies, the food relationships are similar.
It's suggested that men have higher ratio of meat consumption than women or children, and unnamed "studies" suggest that women give priority to male preferences at the expense of their own, and tend to restrict their own consumption to provide more for their husband and children when there is financial hardship.
In a study (Murcott 1982) if working-class facilities in Wales, the preparation of a cooked dinner was perceived as a validation of a woman's success as a wife and mother: to offer an adequate meal was a sign of successful fulfillment of her responsibility to the family, in much the same way as a man's wages testify to the fulfillment of his own family responsibility.
Women's complex relationship with food
The author identifies some themes from "a large number" of studies about domestic preparation and consumption of meals, and finds a few common themes.
- Women are generally empowered to determine what food is purchased for family consumption, though in doing so they must be mindful of the nutritional needs, budget, and taste preferences of the family.
- Women are also the main "cooks" in most households and are held responsible for preparing meals - failure in this performance is a common cause of domestic violence.
- The role of women in serving meals appears to be significant across the social classes, though more ritualized in working-class or blue-collar families.
- It is generalized that men take interest in learning to cook only when they have no woman to cook for them - among "domestic cooking" courses at adult education centers, there are many men who are widowed or divorced who are "absolute beginners" at cooking.
It's been suggested that in the postindustrial society, women have greater status and relationships are more egalitarian, however, surveys suggest that women are still following traditional role in the household.
What has changed is an increase in the proportion of convenience foods, particularly for breakfast and lunch, so the overall amount of time women spend preparing food has decreased, but is still considerably higher (by 14 times) than their male counterparts.
It is also suggested that the working classes cling to traditional roles more so that middle and upper-middle classes, in which men are more involved in food shopping and preparation.
Women's food tastes
"Remarkably little" investigation has been done into gender differences in food tastes. Most consideration has been considered to social class, to the virtual exclusion of any other consideration. A few surveyors who looked into this area (Mennell, Warde, and Martens) have concluded that there was nothing in their findings to suggest there is a great deal of difference in taste between men and women.
The author is quick to note that "taste" and "choice" are entirely different things - such that the behavior of women as consumers is guided not by their own taste, but what they presume will be appealing to their husband and children. However, this is not unique to women: anyone who makes a food decision for a group of people is to some degree seeking to accommodate the perceived preferences of the group rather than themselves - e.g., a man choosing a restaurant for a date is seeking to appeal to the other party's taste, or to make an impression pertaining to his social status by virtue of the choice he makes.
Even when not feeding others, there is a social impact on our choices based on what we assume others would think of our choices, or what we have been influenced to think about ourselves. Many people will eat expensive or healthy items they do not really like because they wish to impress others or convince themselves that they are eating as they should, even though it may not be eating as they like.
With the lack of reliable evidence into women's tastes, the restaurant industry has developed many "mythologies" about women's food preferences, which include:
- Lighter foods, especially chicken, pork, and fish in preference to beef, lamb, or game
- Smaller portions than men because they are assumed to be more concerned with health, diet, and body than men
- Fewer courses at any meal
- A tendency to eschew desserts
A few side-notes are given about other alleged behaviors in the restaurant environment: that women tip less than men, have less experience choosing wine, and are less likely to dine alone.
(EN: Ultimately, I don't think the author hasn't addressed the subject, saying nothing at all about women's food tastes, then exposing and denigrating the little research that has been done as skewed and presumptive.)
Contextual considerations
There is a notion of a "meal experience" that includes multiple environmental factors, rather than simply food choice, quality, and price. This view has "dominated" marketing in the hospitality industry, in spite of research evidence that suggests that food choice, quality, and price are exactly what customers prioritize when dining out.
Those who subscribe to the "experience" theory maintain that dining out has more to do with self-presentation and "the mediation of social relations" by expressing knowledge and sophistication in the choice of venues. Culturally, restaurants project images such as wealth and luxury that are expressed through the decoration, furnishing, lighting, tableware and other elements. The desires that individuals seek to fulfill in dining out go beyond food and service, but deeper emotional desire for status.
There's also brief consideration of the "convergence view" which suggests that the menus of public dining and dining in the home are becoming similar, given that supermarkets increasingly carry ingredients only available to restaurants - which supports the notion that the meal itself is of decreasing importance to the restaurant dining experience.
However, there is a more significant element that the author feels has been neglected: these studies focus on consumption but seem to ignore production. If there is little differentiation in the meal, then restaurant dining shifts the labor of preparation away from the diner to the staff. This has not been entirely ignored, but subsumed into a "food system" that considers the totality of production, processing, distribution, consumption, and disposal of food. As a result of having the analysis at such a "grand level" there has been little utile insight.
From context to actuality
To understand gendered food tastes, the author suggests that future research should employ "pragmatic models that sustain a focus on the relationship between production and consumption" the contrasts the private and public domains.
The author maintains that there is a sufficient prima facie case to accept as a thesis that women are disadvantaged in their roles regarding food production and consumption - but it is not quite clear whether these roles result in differences in tastes.
Although women have made inroads into the world of professional cookery, it is still dominated by men. In general, men are employed as cooks by the restaurant industry whereas women dominate the wait-staff in poorly paid part-time jobs. Even in the back-office operations of the hospitality industry, women are generally regulated to less important roles in human resources and marketing, and kept out of positions of operational responsibility.
On the consumption side of the equation, it is generally agreed that women are more inclined to deny their own pleasures or tastes in the choice of foods as they cater to their male partners and families. While women are charged with purchase and preparation of food in the home, it is in a disempowered capacity that provides responsibility without authority.
In the public domain, conventional wisdom maintains women are less likely to dine out independently than men. They have lower discretionary incomes, which also is a factor in their reduced use of public dining. It's further suggested that women diners are treated less favorably than men. It's suggested that menus are planned around male tastes. A menu is a statement of the choices is prepared to offer, which is prepared with a specific customer in mind.
The selection of foods, in the restaurant or the home, is the driver of global agricultural economy, which ripples out from the dining table and the kitchen to the myriad of industries that produce foods and all related articles.
And in the end, the author suggests that there is a lack of knowledge of gender difference in taste that is likely a lack of acknowledgement that women's tastes are worth considering - but instead a "patriarchal" industry finds little reason to uncover evidence that would challenge a comfortably male-dominated system.