(Hat tip to Sociological Images.)
I have previously expressed my puzzlement at the bizarre gendering of food. Men like Big Portions, did you know? And meat! Women like teeny portions and gourmet food and vegetables, possibly because they are always dieting because our sizeist culture is under the impression that if you’re not size zero you’re worthless as a person. Below the cut we have a collection of ads and pictures that illustrate various sexist ideas about men and food.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whxGbHbY2bY&w=640&h=360]
Wine is not a thing men like, apparently. Men like beer. I assume this comes down to the “men are orcs, women are elves” dichotomy: men are rugged and simple creatures, and so like rugged, simple, manly drinks that taste good, like beer. On the other hand, women are sophisticated and cultured, and prefer sophisticated and cultured drinks such as wine. It’s a good thing that beer company dude made a beer that sophisticated men could drink without having to pretend to be cultured enough to actually enjoy wine.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCJ8mCV39M8&w=640&h=360]
Aaaarrrggh so much femmephobia. The framing of a certain beer as one that tastes good, and is hence more masculine, is interesting: men are supposed to Know Things about beer and that drinking an inferior beer is hence unmasculine. Please note that tight jeans are “your girlfriend’s jeans,” and therefore laughable for a man to wear. In addition, skinny jeans show off one’s body, but as everyone knows men don’t have attractive bodies, so they are therefore hilarious.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTpTyx0eg4k&w=640&h=360]
Did you know that men are not supposed to like “teenybopper hits”? Like Britney Spears! Or Kelly Clarkson! This is such an utterly dispiriting ad to me. I mean, this dude is up there singing Miss Independent, having a great time, getting really into it, and then this bartender lady just shuts him down. Such an asshole. And instead of having fun singing Britney Spears, he sits ashamed and embarrassed with his friends, pretends that the person they’re referring to is “a different Sean.” What does this ad have against fun?
Note that the female bartender has the masculine-gendered trait of knowing things about beer and is not mocked or portrayed as a “dyke” because of it. It’s classic femmephobia– a man not knowing things about beer is shameful, but a (conventionally attractive) woman who knows things about beer is cool.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrS9MvBgEsA&w=640&h=360]
Pink sweaters are not for men and possibly a sign that you are being pussy-whipped (which is a phrase that, as far as I can tell, means “is in a relationship”). Elaborate fruit dishes with marshmallows are also for girls! Possibly because there is fruit, because fruit is all the feminine. Fortunately, you can be saved by the power of Fried Chicken and still get to watch the game with your bros.
Men can eat a lot of food! Women don’t eat a lot of food! Because they have teeny stomachs and, as discussed before, are always dieting!
Much as women need a reason to have sex and men only need a place, women need a reason to eat and men only need a plate.
This is “women are elves” again, the same as in the wine ad– women care about all that gourmet stuff. Men, however, are cavemen who are like “is there food? Is it on my plate? NOMS.”
About ozyfrantz
That pussy-whipped thing keeps coming back, maybe because it is so demeaning ot both the wife and the husaband. I mean, if she’s controlling him, just call it domestic abuse and have done with it.
The way Promyx glosses it makes sense because of the ambiguity of the term itself. But I remember now one other instance when i heard it used, and by a man. He was describing a puppy he was raising. He was playing with the dog, and the dog was getting a litle rough with him – those little puppy-tooth tear marks and what-not – and he said that was all good, he didn’t wnat the dog to be all “pussy-whipped.” Maybe he was talking about standing up to cats….
MaMu1977 – Kenny Chesney. You can count the hairs on his legs.
The term pussy-whipped was invented by Gore Vidal, to describe Anthony Burgess.
This was settled at a party I was at, eons ago, before computers. They settled the argument by quoting from actual books! Doubt I could prove that, but somebody hauled out the rather insulting essay in which Vidal said it, dated a very loooong time ago, long before Bikini Kill.
And then people talked the term coming from a gay man and the implications of that. (Note: it was a gay man’s party and the Gore Vidal books were his too) Burgess was Catholic and Vidal also meant it in that context, but I forget what else people said about that. Sorry.
My reportage on the past lacks some crucial elements.
Gingko: I mean, if she’s controlling him, just call it domestic abuse and have done with it.
I think Vidal also meant the man had no choice, especially if he was following the Christian monogamy rules. In other words, SHE is not whipping him with her pussy, that is just the natural result. Like in the USA we are (haha) gasoline-whipped. Its not the gasoline’s fault.
An analogy that just POPPED into my head today!
Well clearly this explains why all men eat unhealthy food– it makes them manlier!
http://grist.org/list/trans-fats-linked-to-aggressive-behavior/
I can’t help but see a lot of these ads as more of a class issue rather than a gender one. Even the ads that play specifically on the “real man ™”. It’s still the orc/elf dichotomy but with regard to the beer ads, I see it as a product being marketed to the working class where wine has, for better or worse, been elevated to something that only rich upper class people drink. Thus to drink wine is to be of a higher station. The other issue is that these ads are also marketing a beer that is traditionally seen as a low quality choice especially in the last 20 years or so with the rise of smaller craft breweries that make smaller but infinitely better quality products (as an aside, craft beer has also become something of “snob” drink much the same way that wine is considered to be). These ads re-affirm the belief that low or working class people only want a “commoners” drink. Now that I think more on it though this also plays heavily into the gender themes of male disposability and utility in that most of the people being marketed to would generally fall into the work categories most associated with physical labour and personal danger.
Regarding the “pussy whipped” discussion, in my neck of the woods, the term “whipped” refers to a man who, much like a slave who has been whipped or beaten (either literally or figuratively) so as to have his spirit broken and become subservient to another. The “pussy” part simply refers to the anatomy of the person doing the whipping. I find it quite telling that the term is nothing more than a “cute” and thus disarming euphemism to describe abuse.
Another thing to bring up for this week’s open topic: Is it still sexist to serve women smaller portions – even though one could possibly argue that women *biologically* need less calories? My answer: Yes, it is. Because (1) not all men need more calories than all women – and, (2) even if that *was* the case, it still doesn’t justify giving women less for the same price (even if said price is “free”).
I’m not dead certain that that necessary calorie difference between men and women is well-founded. There was a bit in The Beauty Myth about a lot of cultures having a tradition that men should get more food, and ever since I read that, I’ve wondered whether dieting is simply the latest excuse.
“Men, however, are cavemen who are like “is there food? Is it on my plate? NOMS.””
Lol, in the eyes of marketing people anyone with a y-chromosome is apparently part of the Tyranid swarm. Although I wonder if women are expected to be absurdly and abusively controlling, why then is a romantic relationship so damn important beyond the whole true love thing.
You’re probably right, Nancy. After all, “calories” is a relatively new concept – and I don’t buy a lot of what the dieting industry says. As a corollary to being a feminist, I’m also for fat acceptance – so there’s that. Yeah, probably just another excuse to “keep the women in their places” – as well as to, possibly, shame men who aren’t big eaters.
I really don’t like sausage – which, apparently, is something that men are “supposed to” like. I love sirloin steak, though – as well as bacon cheeseburgers.
Although testosterone is a factor that affects metabolism, size and lifestyle both have an effect on calorie needs as well.
Ironically, fat women need more calories than thin ones, to move the extra weight around. A female sumo wrestler likely needs far more calories to maintain such an active lifestyle with all that weight of fat and muscles than average (and mostly sedentary) men do, and she’s probably healthier as well.
@bttf4444:
“What are your thoughts on ladettes?”
I’ll take a stab at it. Depends on what you mean by ladette. Stereotypically male interests and interaction style, pretty cool. Stupidity and recklessness, not so much (from either gender).
@bttf4444:
“Is it still sexist to serve women smaller portions – even though one could possibly argue that women *biologically* need less calories? My answer: Yes, it is. Because (1) not all men need more calories than all women – and, (2) even if that *was* the case, it still doesn’t justify giving women less for the same price (even if said price is “free”).”
Agree on both counts.
@bttf4444:
“After all, “calories” is a relatively new concept – and I don’t buy a lot of what the dieting industry says. As a corollary to being a feminist, I’m also for fat acceptance – so there’s that.”
Then you might like this: Being fat doesn’t cause heart problems, lack of cardio does. It also doesn’t cause diabetes, refined sugar and AGPs do (due to overloading your pancreas). I mostly stopped eating fries for that very reason.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxtRGEVsSOc
Stuff like this shows that people find this sort of marketing a bit preposterous.
Man, I ***king hate those Millerlite commercials. So much. >.<
Also, men don't like wine now? That is out there. o.o I mean, did women invent all that wine-tasting?
@ J. Smith
That is hilarious.
And, er, not to be exactly that guy who gets pushed aside but uh… Technically a pilsner is a lager.
“Also, men don’t like wine now? That is out there. o.o I mean, did women invent all that wine-tasting? ”
Men are awful cooks…and the best chefs. Taste the contradiction. Skittles.
DB – New Zealand; Miller – American; and definitely, that’s Australian KFCheeeken. Anybody know of any similar Canadian ads? (My sense of “Canadians don’t tolerate blatant sexism” is arroused – or perhaps the anti-feminist backlash has taken over my home country by now as well?)