Men are from Mars and women are from Venus – how many times have we heard this quote? Yes, society seems to treat men and women like two different species from different planets. There are many social norms that dictate how men are supposed to be ‘manly’, and women are supposed to be feminine and dainty. It’s truly surprising that even today we continue to follow certain perceptions and ideals that should have become outdated ages ago.
One of these notions pertains to food – yes, even food seems to have a gender. Some types of food are apparently meant only for men and some only for women. A couple of examples that immediately come to mind are (yes, that’s right), chocolate and yogurt. How many advertisements can you think of where a man is shown relishing a chocolate?? Or scooping out the fruit-at-the-bottom?? (Unless it is for something like a Yorkie bar, which apparently is ‘not for girls’).
Conversely, when have you ever seen an advertisement where a woman is shown tucking heartily into a beefsteak? It seems that men are supposed to be hearty eaters, meaning that they should eat red meat until their bellies burst (or they die of cancer). According to ads, meat-eating men are apparently macho. By contrast, women should be small eaters and should survive only on salads, yogurt, quiches, fruit, and chocolate.
How many advertisements can you recall that show a man relishing a chocolate?
Perhaps this did hold true once upon a time, when men were hunters and women were gatherers and therefore ate more of fruits and vegetables. Maybe this is the reason why food like meat are seen as manly, while fruits and vegetables are seen a girly foods. But, clearly, it should no longer hold true. Men rarely hunt these days and women are as physically active as men. Besides, the myth that you need to eat flesh to grow bulky muscles has been thoroughly debunked.
And it’s not just food — the same applies to alcohol. Ever heard a guy being called a ‘pussy’ (or worse) for drinking a ‘fruity’ or sweet mixed drink? I have. Or have you witnessed a surprised reaction from men when a woman dares to order a scotch or whiskey? It’s supposed to ‘put hair on your chest’, it’s so manly. Clearly women who drink scotch are just trying to be like men, right?! :/
So why do these ideas persist? Perhaps due to centuries of social conditioning which still operate within all of us. We still see everything as masculine or feminine, manly or girly, and so we eat what we are conditioned to eat. Besides, society expects women to conform to certain media-driven “ideal” physical attributes. As a result, women are more conscious of their looks and body weight and tend to watch what they eat. Not so with men, who can get away with eating anything they want and being overweight (although that’s slowly beginning to change, as marketers learn that men will purchase diet products, too!). Just count the number of successful Hollywood actors versus actresses who are, well, not so slim, and you’ll see what I mean.
Ideally, both sexes should be eating a lot of fruits and vegetable and moderate quantities of proteins.
Some people might argue that women and men have different nutritional needs, which is true to some extent. Men need more calories and women need more calcium and iron. However, eating large quantities of red meat and dairy is equally harmful for both men and women. It is certainly not ideal for men to eat unlimited quantities of meat or for women to eat large amounts of chocolate. In other words, there are no legitimately manly or feminine foods.
Sadly, in our society, nothing is truly genderless, so even food is given a gender. This factor is exploited each day by advertisements that create and reinforce gender stereotypes. No, men are not from Mars and women are not from Venus. Both are from Earth – deal with it, people!
Men need meat because their work is more on physical, and that is the reason why they need meat. Not all the time, gender is the reason, okay? You are being judgemental if you think that we eat meat because salads are for women only.
Do we need to base our eating on our gender? Like, if you’re a woman you supposed to be eating salads, and you are men, you have to eat meat to look more manly? How ridiculous!
OMG, that is, like, the best advice I have ever, like, read! Stoopid fatty. Yeah, they should just, like, stop eating n stuff. It’s so like, disgusting and that.
So, if I eat too much meat, I am a man? HAHAHA! I’m sorry, but we shouldn’t base our food in our gender. It’s 2017!!!
You can’t change the tradition. Before you were born, some people see the food like that already.
Whatever you say! I’m hungry, and I’m craving for some burgers. I am a strong, and independent woman, and I will eat whatever I want to eat as long as I am not over eating.
The salad is not just vegetables, it has meat too. I eat salad because why not, right? I am human, and I will eat whatever I want to eat, and that’s my money I am on food.
We need pork, and we need veggies in our life. Men, women, need nutrition in the body, and they give that to us. If you become picky on food, or if you base your food on your gender, you might not get the proper nutrition that you need.
Chicks food includes salad, quiche, fruit salad, tabouli, anything with sun dried tomato in it and (gross) things wrapped in vine leaves. I didn’t include tofu cause it is NOT food. Furthermore, we need to consider “chicks milk” which is all those fancy “no milk” varieties inch skim = White water. On the other hand, Guys food includes meat more meat in any form.
I am a girl, and I hate chocolates. I am serious about this one. I don’t know, whenever I eat chocolates, my mouth doesn’t take the sweetness of it. Am I normal, or not?
ACK! Why do we need eat food based on our gender? Can’t we eat the food we want to eat because we wanted to eat it?? I guess now I know how to recognize the bias and not to buy into the marketing. It’s so subliminal I probably act based on it without even realizing.