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Question
| Discuss the relationship between food and gender in the household in which you grew up. Who did the cooking: your mother or your father? What sorts of battles over food took place in the house? What were the outcomes? How did food serve as a source of power and/or subjugation for the person doing the cooking? How often did the family eat out/get carry-out? Who was the center of power (the decision-maker) when you dined out or got carry-out? Do you expect that you will have a similarly gendered relationship to food as an adult? Please bring a copy of this assignment to class so that you may discuss it with classmates. Incorporating an observation or two from Belasco would be a good idea. 1.5 – 2 pages double-spaced. |
| Hi I’m a Chinese, so you can write something that Chinese tradition. You can make up a story. Thank you |
Answer
Relationship Between Food and Gender
In many households, food has become quite a sensitive issue, especially where healthy eating is involved. In most families, mothers have taken over the role of determining what dish is to be served and what is to be avoided at all costs. This often results to heated arguments because most of the time, the same routine may be repeated and this can be quite boring and dissatisfying to some family members.
Growing up in a family of two siblings and both my parents, I recall how food was considered an integral component of family relations. My mother was overly concerned about healthy eating, hence, she did the cooking at all times. She usually advocated for foods richer in fats and vitamins but lower in carbohydrates and fiber. Consequently, vegetables and plenty of fruits were an integral part of our day-to-day diet in an attempt to maintain healthy eating and build up a strong immune system. Chinese cuisines such as dumplings, rice, meat, noodles and rice porridge constituted a larger part of our meals since the foods provided necessary calories, protein, and fat required to strengthen our bodies against cold weather conditions in Northern China where we hailed from.
With time, my father would get tired of this routine and argue with mother on many occasions. He worked at an electricity plant and this was partly the reason why he preferred more starch in his diet in an attempt to replenish lost energy after a day full of physical activity. I tended to relate strongly to his predicament since as a male sibling, I preferred foods rich in protein and starch in order to build up muscles and develop a strong physique. In contrast, women in our society did not like eating foods rich in starch because of their desire to maintain lean bodies. As male family members, our plea to have more carbohydrates in our diet would fall on deaf ears; my mother would stand her ground, and her authoritarian personality came in handy during such debates. Furthermore, my mother was strict on our eating habits and she ensured we had all three meals in a day. She was the supreme leader when it came to matters diet at home. She justified her arguments by asserting that in the long run, her strategy would prove useful in preventing diet-related diseases and helping us to maintain a healthy lifestyle.
Nevertheless, at time we would go eat out at different restaurants, mostly thrice a week and also on special holidays. During such outings, my father would get a chance to exercise his authority on matters relating to diet. In fact, there was an unwritten agreement between him and my mother to the effect that he would always be responsible for diet-related decisions to be made during the outings. In such situations, my siblings and I would be at liberty to choose to eat whatever we wanted. This was always our golden chance to eat all the types of foods that my mother had outlawed at home in the name of “healthy eating”. On the other hand, my father would almost always order meat and rice in almost all situations. In contrast, my mother would stick to her to her usual diet of noodles and vegetable salad.
A close look into these incidences reveals that a strong relationship indeed exists between gender and food. It is quite evident that women tend to be in control on this matter, and in their view, well-balanced nutritious foods should always be the main factor in all dietary decisions. As seen in the body, women tend to lean towards maintaining lean bodies through healthy eating as opposed to providing the much-needed energy requirements of the body. On the other hand, men are inclined to choose foods that help to build up their overall physique and strengthen their muscles to enable them handle labor-intensive activities.
In conclusion, I am highly likely to experience a similar phenomenon in food-related interactions with members of opposite sex in future. I have seen women dominate matters relating to diet in my family. Although men are denied an opportunity to choose what foods are chosen, they end up benefiting from the healthy dietary choices that female family members make. In addition to this, the incorporation of this gender relationship in the diet debate contributes to the emergence of gender-based interactions on differences among the needs of various family members.
