Gendered Food

I took this photo while grocery shopping. I was walking down the aisles and randomly came across these Skinny Girl Cocktails. Right when I saw it, I thought about why they call it skinny girl cocktails. Why can’t it just be called Skinny Cocktails? Is it because the people who made it think that girls want to be thin? Or maybe it is because they are going with the notion shared by society that girls are supposed to be concerned with their appearance? According to Wood, as part of going up gendered is teaching girls that they should be considered with how they look because appearance courts. The skinny cocktails are sending the message to women that it is ideal to be thin. It is also sending the message that girls should be concerned about their weight and count calories. It is also sending the message that men do not have to be concerned with their weight and appearance. However, this is untrue. I know some men who watch their weight and want to be healthy. Being considered about health and weight is not exclusively a feminine trait.

Later in the store, I came across these Hungry-Man dinners. These dinners are sending the message to men that it is okay for them to eat a lot. It is also sending the message to women that eating large quantities is masculine and therefore is an undesirable trait for women. According to Wood, part of growing up as a man is being taught to not act feminine. Since some associate dieting as feminine, then the men may be considered a sissy or girly for being considered about their weight. However, the assumption that men eat a lot of high calorie foods and women eat less and healthier food is not true of all men and women. Women can eat “manly” foods and men can eat “feminine” food. Food and cocktails are just food and cocktails anyways. They shouldn’t be separated by different sexes. There should be no such thing as girl food/drinks and boy food/drinks. Society should not tell women and men want they should or shouldn’t eat/drink. All food and drinks are created equal and everyone should be able to enjoy the food they want without being judged by society as being too feminine or masculine.