The Image of Meat on a Cutting Board
I feel the reason this particular image was chosen for this section is due to the “masculine” qualities the image insinuates. In the article “Meat Heads” the author discusses that the consumption of meat for some men tends to make them feel more masculine. He suggests that gendered effects of food choice have dictated this for decades. For example, “eat a steak, feel more like a man” (Eisenberg) is the proposed gender bias that men eat meat and women eat salads. The image chosen for this section, highlights that eating meat represents the male gender and being masculine means you eat meat. A male looking doughboy (perceived as male on TV commercials) lays claim to the meat by placing his foot on the cutting board with a steak knife in hand and another knife already inserted in the meat suggesting the meat is something he has laid claim to and will eventually consume. So there are several masculine traits are depicted in this image that represents eating meat is a masculine trait.
More on Gendered Foods
Gendered food is actually a real thing! they exist I argue because of a gender divided society ruled by gender norma and expectations. Another example of gendered foods is as mentioned above, that women (should) eat salads. Women in society are considered to be kind and gentle, more socially and ethically aware and subsequently make more emotional choices when eating avoiding “barbaric” animal eating habits. Although not all women, myself included always chose a salad when presented with the option. Another food that is gendered is in my opinion fruit. It doesn’t seem masculine to eat fruit. 
I think fruit is considered to be more feminine because it is tender, fragile, and vulnerable; many qualities a women is associated with. When it come to eating habits, men and women have different perceptions on etiquette. Women are supposed to be proper. Using manners, keeping a clean eating area, and chewing and eating slowly, etc. Men have more room for eating with less etiquette rooting back to caveman times. The man first of all eats first and as much as he likes. Besides that masculine eating can include eating quickly, consuming large bites of food and eating loudly. It is more acceptable to see a man eating this way than seeing a female eating this way because of societies perceived view of gender.
An Ecofeminist View of Our Relationship to Non-Human Animals
The way we see non-human animals is largely based on the patriarchal systems that are in place. As a food source animals are oppressed by humans and subjected to mistreatment and exploitation similarly to women in a patriarchal society.
I feel ecofeminism seeks to impose an ethic of care into the abuse of animals as a food source. Deane Curtin argues, “the case of killing animals for human consumption where there is a choice, this practice inflicts pain that is completely unnecessary and avoidable” (Curtin). In addition to viewing non-human animals as a food source ecofeminist Greta Gaard argues that humans see non-human animals as inferior and as another form of oppression saying, “to be a pet is to have all of one’s life decisions controlled by someone else” (Gaard 21) underlining the relationship to non-human animals as inferior to humans. Both ecofeminist draw on the relationship we have with non-human animals as one that correlates with the oppression of women. Curtin mentions the choice to be vegan (free from not only meat but also free from consuming dairy and eggs) supports the decision not to exploit females reproductive systems. Gaard links sexism and speciesism giving the example of women being called derogatory terms that are related to animals such as “bitch”, “pussy”, “old bat”, and “cow brain” relating animals to be governed by patriarchy in the same way. Gaard also maintains that the same system of oppression, “these multiple systems-racism, classism, sexism, speciesism” (Gaard 20) govern non-human animals as well as humans.
Bibliography
Curtin, Deane. “Contextual Moral Vegetarianism.” 8 February 2020 <http://www.animal-rights-library.com/texts-m/curtin01.htm>.
Eisenberg, Zoe. “Meat Heads: New Study Focuses on How Meat Consumption Alters Men’s Self-Percieved Levels of Masculinity.” 13 January 2017. Huff Post. 8 February 2020 <https://www.huffpost.com/entry/meat-heads-new-study-focuses_b_8964048>.
Gaard, Greta. “Ecofeminism on the Wing: Perspectives on Human-Animal Relations.” Women & Environments (2001): 19-22.
Annotated Bibliography: Greta Gaard draws on the reasons the relationships we have with non-human animals can be seen as oppressive. She gives an eco feminist view of our relationship with the animals we eat and the relationship with our pets. Gaard argues that just as we oppress humans the oppression animals face id worsened by the patriarchal systems that govern animals as powerless at the hands of humans.
Wow! I have never in my life once thought about ‘gendered foods’. I have to admit that glancing at the headline, my mind was instantly ‘No…’ but, reading this blog has been incredibly eye-opening. You are so correct about foods being gendered. It’s almost like when you go out and people act all surprised if you want a beer….as if men own the rights to being the only beer-drinkers.
Hi there! Great summary of the reading material. Your image of the lemons completely sparked a new thought for me regarding the subject matter. Peaches! I feel like I can’t eat a peach any more without someone saying, “oh so you’re eating booty”. Am I behind the times? Because I don’t remember an earlier time when peaches were sexy. I know the shape is similar to a woman’s backside but, what a sexist norm on fruit!!
I also really appreciated your interpretation of the image our professor provided for us to interpret. When you stated, “it looks like the boy was laying claim…”, it was an immediate yes from me. I had not initially interpreted the image that way but, it honestly makes perfect sense.
I feel that I learned quite a bit from Greta Gaard this week. I never attributed cuss words like “bitch” to animals before reading her article. Again, it makes perfect sense. I also included an image of industrialized animal farms into my post. I asked another classmate this question but, I’m hoping for your answer too. Are you vegetarian or vegan?
The reason I ask is because I was years ago and, then I stopped. Reading Gaard, Curtin, and viewing the ‘Killing Clock’ made me feel so sick to my stomach. Researching and looking for pictures of industrialized ‘meat’ farms to include in my post broke my heart completely. I mentioned to someone else, that I was dreading to take my chicken out of the fridge to prepare dinner tonight.
I’m not sure if I will go back to being vegan again but, it has definitely opened the discussion back up. Now that I realize the connection between feminism and vegetarianism, I have even more reason to try to become vegetarian or vegan again. It’s a hard, time-consuming commitment, in my opinion, but I’m going to think about. No pressure to you by any means! I’m just curious for an honest answer if you felt sick as well?
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Hello Holly, enjoyed reading your response this week. I think you did a great job explaining why our professor choose the image of meat on a cutting board, and I think your paragraph also did a great job of just summarizing a lot of what we read about meat and gendered food this week. What do you feel like is the causes of this gendering of foods? I agree with you that meat is often seen as a masculine food, but have yet to really come across a cause. My own theory is that I think that a lot of it relates to the way society views womens bodies, and the expectations we have for them. Women are expected to be thinner than men. While there is pressure on all genders to avoid becoming fat, I would say that women face a higher scrutiny with it. Since conventional views of nutrition is that bacon is bad and vegetables are good, which gender is going to be more likely to reach for the salad? I also agree with you that fruit is also seen as a feminine food, and I think it backs up my argument that healthy= feminine and unhealthy= masculine. Would love to get some more your thoughts on what I have mentioned.
I never looked at fruit as a feminine food group. Independent of the larger whole, in my family my husband eats more fruit than I do. He loves citrus and bananas and grapes. For myself, I like berries and apples. It makes sense, however, for fruit to be a gendered group given your argument. But I believe these stereotypes are waining, especially for younger generations. Meat may be considered a male dominant food even though nearly every restaurant I patronize has vegetarian and vegan options galore.
I remember when ‘chick’ was a popular descriptive for women. Back in the 1960s and 70s it was a common form of greeting, just as ‘dude’ has been for awhile now. It always bothered me but I never understood why until taking these courses. I also recall ‘cow’ and ‘pig’ and see these terms as derogatory no matter what the speaker means by them. Are there names for men like this? I am thinking and can’t recall any such derogatory slurs for men. Why? Is it because men have ruled for so long and women have been subjugated to second class citizenry that they felt they had no right to use slurs to describe men?
When my daughters were growing up, the one word I used over and over to describe young men was ‘predatory.’ As teenagers, young men all looked that way to me and I had experienced enough situations with my daughters to prove that descriptive. That word is definitely linked to animal behavior, so at least I know of one. And while they were young, I saw many predators.
I enjoyed reading both Curtin and Gaard’s articles on meat and its ramifications for the planet. For me, Curtin makes for sense because she sees there are societies and cultures that rely heavily on the animal products in their environment for sustenance. My brother lives in Michigan and used to be an avid hunter. Now he hunts with a bow and arrow, allowing the deer an opportunity to escape. He feels that is somehow a righteous way to hunt. But he doesn’t need the meat for survival and we’ve had conversations regarding it. I do understand that some seasons there is an overabundance of deer that need to be monitored and thinned, but doesn’t that occur naturally? We have agreed to disagree!
Thanks for you post and ‘food for thought.’
Hi Holly,
I think your interpretation of the picture was very interesting, but definitely makes sense based on the article we read about gendered foods. Meat is seen as very masculine in our society. The article mentions that most often men are seen eating meat and women are seen eating vegetables. Even if we do not think about it often it is just something that has been constructed into society and though I did not interpret that image like this before I can definitely see where you are coming from. I was not aware that we had to choose any food and explain our own take on why that food is feminine or masculine, but fruit is definitely feminine. Men eat fruit as well, but it is thought of a lot in our society that fruit is associated with femininity just like meat is associated with masculinity. This goes back to the idea that men have been hunters while women have collected plants and herbs. Women have always been seen as having a connection with nature while men are above women and nature. I think the point Gaard made about pets being controlled by humans can relate to this idea. Men believe they have all the power in society and women are not free to do what they want. There will always be a gap between where men stand and where women stand. Lastly, I think the picture you chose to support Curtin’s argument was a good one. A lot of people do not understand what animals go through to end up being meat for humans or even giving their eggs and milk to humans. This is because that process is so behind the scenes that a to of people do not know exists.
The last sentence of your first paragraph is interesting to me. I do agree that the white figure is more masculine than feminine even though it is blank with no real defining features, I do also agree that male dominance and patriarchy are deeply rooted in meat eating but I wouldn’t say eating meat is strictly a masculine trait. I also did not think of Fruit as being gendered and geared more towards women. The way you justify that explanation does make a lot of sense though considering.
I do think gendered foods are slowly dying though because of all the trends and diets in food today. Many places are vegan or vegetarian friendly. You also have Keto diets and Paleo which both men and women do. as for the etiquette with eating I do believe that especially back in the day women and men did have different expectations and assumption of eating and table manners but I feel that some of the ideas of “women eating slow” and men eating like “loud and large bites” can be a bit of a exaggeration.