Gender and slaughter in popular gastronomy

Abstract

Animal slaughter has lately become increasingly visible in popular food media. This article examines the gendered assumptions and assertions underpinning the killing of animals in popular gastronomy. In television cooking shows such as The F Word (2005—present), Kiwi Kitchen (2007—8) and Jamie’s Great Italian Escape (2005), both emotional concern for farmed animals and farmed animals themselves are feminized and denigrated, whilst slaughter and meat-eating are masculinized and celebrated. Conversely, in the recent cookbook-cum-memoir by Julie Powell, Cleaving: A Story of Meat, Marriage and Obsession, butchery and meat-eating are depicted as pathways to, and displays of, female empowerment. Both groups of gastronomy texts hold the domination of animals, demonstrated through the slaughter, butchery and consumption of non-human bodies, to be an integral component in the performance of gender.

Cows on Facebook and Instagram

“…Intimately intertwined with this development is another development identified by Parry (2009Parry ( , 2010, K. Gillespie (2011), Cole (2011), Stanescu (2014, Tiengo and Caffo (2012), and Gutjahr (2013). These authors all describe a new trend in gastronomic discourse seen in books, documentaries, TV shows, and advertising, where the animal in meat production is acknowledged.…”

“…It does so by focusing on the happiness of animals and on the producers of animal food products being aware of and respecting the animals' emotions, and caring for their quality of life up until the day of their "humane slaughter" (Cole 2011;Stanescu 2014). Instead of responding to the moral philosophical debates on the problem of animal agriculture (Midgley 1983;Singer 1990), these happy animal discourses define the problem of animal agriculture as a problem of industrialization and rationalization, and of people being disconnected from the realities of food production (Cole 2011;Parry 2009Parry , 2010. Hence, if only industrialization can be rolled back, the ethical issues of using animals for food will be resolved.…”

Når TV-kokken ofrer lam. Maskulinitetsforhandlinger via lammekroppe i "autentiske" miljøer i Jamie's Italian Escape og Le chef en France.

“…Siden årtusindeskiftet har man dog set en anden tendens, hvor slagtning af dyr igen er blevet trukket frem i lyset; ikke mindst i en raekke madprogrammer med mandlige vaerter, der typisk selv aktivt tager del i aflivningen af dyr (Parry 2010 På denne teoretiske baggrund opereres med en dekonstruktivistisk laesestrategi, der søger at tydeliggøre, hvordan lammekroppenes og mandekroppenes materialitet og handlinger fortløbende indvirker på hinanden omkring slagtningen.…”

“…Med sine analyser, der også placerer kønnet centralt, argumenterer Parry for, at mandlige tv-kokke bruger vold mod dyr til at legitimere arkaisk maskulin opførsel (Parry 2010). Denne form for opførsel er ellers ikke laengere acceptabel for maend i de fleste posttraditionelle vesterlandske samfund, men i nykanivore madprogrammer bliver slagtning en platform for at revitalisere patriarkalsk maskulinitet og gøre den acceptabel, fordi den patriarkalske maskulinitet her på den ene side kobles med en kritik af den moderne industrialiserede madkultur og denne kulturs distance til naturen, og på den anden side kobles til en ophøjelse af en tilbage-venden til en mere autentisk og naturnaer madkultur og levevis.…”

“That’s Not How We Do Things Here”: American Men’s Ministries in an Australasian Context

“…Katoomba Christian Convention’s men’s ministry also uses a car show to attract men called Men and Machines. A report of the event states the biblical message was “not lost amongst the kebabs, revving of engines, and admiration of fast cars.” 13 This sentence demonstrates how eating meat, which is typically employed as a signifier for normative masculinity (Gal and Wilkie 2010, Parry 2010, Sobal 2005), is used to appeal to men in Australian men’s ministries. The same report states, “there were clear signs of vegetables added to the traditional night‐out kebab.…”