In “Caring About Food: Doing Gender in the Foodie Kitchen (2010),” Kate Cairns, Josee Johnston, and Shyon Baumann investigate how gender affects the relationship that people have with cooking in a foodie culture. The authors begin by explaining the social and cultural expectations that genders traditionally have with food, which are that women have a care work relationship with food and men have a hobby based relationship; they then identify three aspects that emerged with their research: pleasure, care work, and knowledge and expertise that are present in the foodie culture. The authors’ purpose is to examine participation in the foodie community, in order to demonstrate that foodie culture is affected by gender, but not as it is traditionally viewed. The article was published in Gender and Society, addressing scholars interested in gender relations and the foodie culture.
Foodies and Expanding Knowledge
Foodies are always expanding their knowledge.
Foodie knowledge extends across both genders; however, there is a variation to the extent males and females utilize this information, as well as the connotations that are appropriate with each. The term that sums up what expanding knowledge in food is, was referenced as “expanding your palate,” (pg. 606). This expansion and act of educating your palate includes not only reading new cookbooks or blogs, but also experiencing new restaurants, food shows, and reading up on food history. Foodies feel the need to constantly expand and refine their knowledge and experience about food; yet, the way each gender approaches expansion differs.
It was found that foodie males who valued expanding their knowledge of food, researched to help support and continue their food relationship. Some men have certain foodie “projects” they work on for a given amount of time, for example, spending six months finding the perfect sorbet recipe (pg. 606).
Through their “projects,” they increase their skill level and educate themselves on a foodie avenue that is new to them personally. Expanding their food knowledge is an important feature of their foodie identity (pg. 606). The foodie men often looked toward the professional food world for more knowledge and they esteemed male professionals. (p. 607) When the interviewees were asked, they spoke of executive chefs, not women who have had years of experience and knowledge from cooking in their homes or as their own career.
How Genders Perceive Care-Work and Pleasure
Men typically link cooking with pleasure or entertainment.
An indicative sign of a foodie is the high level of pleasure that these individuals receive from a food experience; the authors identify a conflict seen between this pleasure and the stereotypical care expected of women who cook.The article expresses that the need of pleasure while cooking is seen in both genders; although, the female foodies showed that their expected pleasure did not come from just cooking the food. Stereotypically, women are not expected to enjoy eating. They have a figure to be concerned with and how many calories they are eating. However, the foodie women interviewed for this article expressed quite the opposite. Although caring about organic produce, the experience of cooking was only the tip of the iceberg for their pleasure; eating the food they created and/or tasting unique cuisine from around the globe was sensational and essential for their identify as a foodie.
Women tend to link cooking with caring for the family.
The association between pleasure and care work has brought about the notion of enjoyment of cooking for others. In order to gain a sense of satisfaction, foodie men and women look towards the enjoyment experienced by their guests or families when they eat their food. However, with the women, cooking for others sometimes lead to their limitations in cooking what they enjoyed (p. 604). These assumptions lead to the association of a gender segregated responsibility where the discourses of femininity become synonymous with care work and food provision (600).
This is not to assume that foodies are driven by a purely self driven endeavors. The role of overseeing family health is one that is more frequently observed as passed down through mothers to daughters than can be found passed among men. This then becomes a slippery slope in allocation of responsibility where the full burden of the families well being is placed on women (603). Men however, were likely perceived as the artisans of the foodie culture. The prominent association of masculinity to the aesthetic features within the food professions such as Chefs.
Check out this video that compares the introductions to male cooking shows vs. female cooking shows. The differences are very telling.
Implications on Publishing
The knowledge and expertise of foodies is often appropriated differently among the two genders. With publications in food culture, this article highlights what genders may use as material to support their foodie natures. Men, as it is observed, will look at publications highlighting expertise and professionals. Although women also look for more knowledge, they may gravitate towards the publications that acknowledge experience and connections with food, not necessarily years of study.
Further Investigation
By investigating what it means to be a foodie and identifying subsequent gender variations, we can begin to understand the extent of food media as well as how it affects the relationship that people form with cooking. To extend this article’s research, we may look into other trends of gender in food publication. Gender may be effecting what food bloggers are posting and how they differ. There may be more information lying there in how the genders relate to pleasure, knowledge and expertise, and care work.