The Meaning Behind the Menu

What could be considered a "manly meal"? A medium rare steak with mashed potatoes and a nice cold beer? What about a "feminine meal"? Maybe a nice salad or some light pasta with some wine? Without much thought, we are able to see gender constructs in everything that we do, even something as simple as ordering off of a menu.

After working in the fast food industry for a reasonable amount of time, I have been able to experience my fair share of orders. As I take orders or hand out drinks, I have been guilty of falling ignorant and making incorrect assumptions. One memory in particular comes to mind at the mention of this idea. I remember having two drinks to make, one a medium cold brew and the other a medium iced caramel coffee with cream and sugar. As I was handing the drinks out to the waiting couple, my mind assumed that the caramel coffee was for the woman, and the black cold brew should be given to the man. When they switched their drinks to the correct person I had realized what I had unintentionally done. I assumed that the man would be drinking the dark, serious, no B.S. drink and the woman would have wanted the sweet, lightened version. Although it was not a big deal at the time, it makes me wonder what exactly could that mistake have meant?

In restaurants as well, similar situations have occurred. Automatically the waiter will set the plate of salad in front of my mom while the burger is handed to my dad. Little did they know that my dad was eating light that day and wanted the salad as a small lunch. At the time it was nothing to write home about, the lunch wasn't ruined as the plates were easily swapped.

These examples, though often overlooked, reveal the world of gender constructs in the food industry. We are able to see how gender stereotypes change the way food is thought about. Women are known to have healthier eating habits than men. This may stem from those stereotypes of a man's versus a woman's meal. A woman may be expected to enjoy a light meal while a man has the opportunity to indulge in the opposite. Women are often expected to conforms to different body types and ideals resulting in the thought that they may be "watching their figure" and therefore being conscious of their habits. The contrast between the two ideals has also been a factor when considering men's versus women's health. These meal choices may negatively affecting health. The concept of masculinity or femininity may be the factor controlling one's choice from the menu.

So what are our options? Is this something that is really that important? Or does it simply come down to ordering whatever you are in the mood for. These constructs have been materialized in our environment for years upon years. It is difficult to break something that is so embedded in our society as it becomes almost an invisible idea. Something we rarely even think about. It is difficult to change, but not impossible. Being conscious of our eating habits does not entirely mean choosing the item on the menu that has the least amount of calories and it definitely is not confined to be an action done mainly by women. Gender constructs are prevalent in our society in many ways. Not even food is safe from the horrors of gender constructs.