# Gendered Food **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 12, 2009, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gendered-food/513495 "2009-10-12T04:26:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2009, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gendered-food/513495/21 "2009-10-12T13:17:09Z")
> [@Tamara+](#): > > Nobody likes tofu though. I love tofu. And I’m not a vegetarian, which seems to perplex the hell out of people. I often get it as my meat option when ordering Chinese or Thai food. Mr. Athena eats yogurt just about every day. He’s also big on salads. In fact, most guys I know really like salads. I guess I just don’t get the gendered eating thing. Everything mentioned on this thread seems to be just plain ol’ food that anyone would eat. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2009, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gendered-food/513495/22 "2009-10-12T13:33:57Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Especially, if someone has a salad as a meal (as opposed to a prelude to the main course), 95 times out of 100 that person is a woman. At least, this is true in advertising, pop culture, etc. In real life, I know men who like salads. But salads are seldom marketed to men. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2009, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gendered-food/513495/23 "2009-10-12T14:12:06Z")
Damn, I must be a hermaphrodite. ---
**Author:** ![overlyverbose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/9dc877/32.png) [@overlyverbose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/overlyverbose)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2009, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gendered-food/513495/24 "2009-10-12T16:08:32Z")
I hate rice cakes. I tried really, really hard to love them, though. Maybe that’s one thing that constitutes girl food - (broad brush warning) women are usually trying to lose weight, so even though we hate a certain type of food, we’ll eat it anyway until we’ve determined that we’re always going to gag on it, can tolerate it or manage to convince ourselves we love it. As for yogurt, I can stand plain yogurt, but only if it’s mixed with honey and fruit; the flavored stuff is okay, but tastes fake (that reminds me, I have some really old flavored yogurt in the fridge I should probably throw out). I force myself to eat it because I hate yogurt a little less than I hate milk, which I’m allegedly supposed to drink because I’m pregnant. My husband, on the other hand, loves plain yogurt all by itself. That’s definitely cultural - where he grew up, yogurt was almost always offered after the main course of lunch and dinner. Other foods that, to me, are gendered include: hot dogs - male chili - male nachos - male (but one of my favorite food groups) processed cheese - male popcorn, especially microwave or plain airpopped - female breakfast drinks like slimfast or carnation - female low-fat versions of most foods - female cookies - female (and my second favorite food group) ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2009, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gendered-food/513495/25 "2009-10-12T16:17:20Z")
> [@overlyverbose](#): > > Other foods that, to me, are gendered include: > > hot dogs - male I see what you did there. ---
**Author:** ![susan\_foster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@susan\_foster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan_foster)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2009, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gendered-food/513495/26 "2009-10-12T16:32:27Z")
I know this thread is meant to divide between male/female foods, but I wanted to say - I hope you didn’t get the rice cakes. I wouldn’t buy rice cakes unless someone asked me to. Just buy as you normally would, and maybe sometime in the near future ask everybody if there is something that they would like in the snacks. ---
**Author:** ![zweisamkeit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zweisamkeit/32/4360_2.png) [@zweisamkeit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zweisamkeit)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2009, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gendered-food/513495/27 "2009-10-12T17:32:12Z")
I’ll agree that rice cakes are definitely eaten more by women. However, if I was a new employee and there were rice cakes there and I heard there were _only_ rice cakes there because of me (and otherwise there’d just be Oreos, Doritos, etc.) I would be humiliated, since it could seem like the assumption was that I was trying to lose weight. I’m really good at reading into things where the insult wasn’t intended, but since rice cakes are generally used by dieters, that’s what I would worry about. ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2009, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gendered-food/513495/28 "2009-10-12T17:50:08Z")
I wonder if there is a Sweet/Savory and Bitter/Salty divide in food tastes beteen women and men. ---
**Author:** ![MoodIndigo1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e8c25b/32.png) [@MoodIndigo1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MoodIndigo1)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2009, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gendered-food/513495/29 "2009-10-12T18:43:28Z")
My husband drinks tea and I drink coffee. When we get served at the restaurant, most of the time servers hand me the tea and him the coffee. Are coffee and tea considered male and female, respectively? ETA, getting back to the OP, if someone bought rice cakes for me, the package would never get opened and would be thrown away unopened upon my retirement. ---
**Author:** ![overlyverbose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/9dc877/32.png) [@overlyverbose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/overlyverbose)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2009, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gendered-food/513495/30 "2009-10-12T19:17:16Z")
> [@MoodIndigo1](#): > > My husband drinks tea and I drink coffee. When we get served at the restaurant, most of the time servers hand me the tea and him the coffee. > Are coffee and tea considered male and female, respectively? > > ETA, getting back to the OP, if someone bought rice cakes for me, the package would never get opened and would be thrown away unopened upon my retirement. It’s very possible that they are. If I recall correctly, in Britain, port was considered a man’s drink and sherry a woman’s drink. I don’t see any reason why tea might not be considered a woman’s drink and coffee a man’s drink. ---
**Author:** ![Lucky\_13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucky_13/32/13209_2.png) [@Lucky\_13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucky_13)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2009, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gendered-food/513495/31 "2009-10-12T19:19:51Z")
As a result of attempting to eat a Mediterranean-style diet for health reasons, I’ve started to like yogurt, but it doesn’t like me. Occasionally I will eat some Greek-style yogurt with strawberries and a couple of Lactaid caps. Otherwise I don’t bother with it. I love steak; it has to be medium-well or well-done, however. I guess it’s kind of girly of me, but I don’t like blood in my food. When I was pregnant, I would eat as much meat and salad as I could, and now my daughter likes meat as well. I don’t like fish fillets, which are more typically associated with women in U.S. culture. I do have to start eating more fish and less red meat, because of the above-mentioned Mediterranean diet. Maybe if I use more lemon… One food item I typically don’t associate with grown men: cupcakes. Sure, the boys in my daughter’s class liked the mini-cupcakes I brought for her birthday in first grade, but cupcakes aren’t really considered manly, from what I’ve seen. My BILs gladly scarf down frosted chocolate cupcakes whenever my niece bakes them, however. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2009, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gendered-food/513495/32 "2009-10-12T19:51:46Z")
Diet soft drinks are more often consumed by women; many men perceive that a “diet” drink (or, for that matter any diet product) is for women. Recent introductions like Coke Zero and Pepsi Max are targeted towards men; they are, essentially, diet sodas, but the word “diet” doesn’t appear on them. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Fight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Cat\_Fight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Fight)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2009, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gendered-food/513495/33 "2009-10-12T19:52:21Z")
> [@overlyverbose](#): > > It’s very possible that they are. If I recall correctly, in Britain, port was considered a man’s drink and sherry a woman’s drink. I don’t see any reason why tea might not be considered a woman’s drink and coffee a man’s drink. A friend of mine who works in marketing told me just this, except that the butchest coffee is strong and black. He and his team were trying to figure out how to sell ‘fancy’ coffee to American men, who were apparently frightened by teeny tiny cups and foam that looked too much like an iced cupcake (I kid you not, these things were all discussed at length). Tea was seen as coffee’s weak cousin, just like those damned Brits. ---
**Author:** ![MissGypsy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8491ac/32.png) [@MissGypsy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MissGypsy)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2009, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gendered-food/513495/34 "2009-10-13T02:12:08Z")
I don’t care for yogurt, but my sons love it. I don’t mind rice cakes, but it rarely occurs to me to buy them. My husband is the one with the sweet tooth, and any ice cream, cookies, or candy is the house is his and our boys’. Anything spicy is mine. Beef jerky seems like a guy food. I’m sure women buy it and eat it, but I only recall seeing men do so. ---
**Author:** ![Idlewild](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8491ac/32.png) [@Idlewild](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idlewild)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2009, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gendered-food/513495/35 "2009-10-13T03:30:41Z")
> [@Lucky\_13](#): > > One food item I typically don’t associate with grown men: cupcakes. Sure, the boys in my daughter’s class liked the mini-cupcakes I brought for her birthday in first grade, but cupcakes aren’t really considered manly, from what I’ve seen. My BILs gladly scarf down frosted chocolate cupcakes whenever my niece bakes them, however. Hipster men eat/bake/make ironic t-shirts featuring cupcakes. Whether they count as grown men is another question. As an aside, I don’t watch much television advertising and had no idea until quite recently that yogurt was so heavily gendered. Someone had to explain to me why it was odd that manly Michael Weston on Burn Notice at so much of the stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2009, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gendered-food/513495/36 "2009-10-13T04:02:23Z")
Most of what people are calling “Women Foods” seem to just be diet/low calorie/healthier/blander type food while the “Men Foods” taste better and are higher in fats and salts and all those things. I think it’s just that we see women on diets more than men so of course they’d choose things like a salad & chicken breast over barbecue ribs. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2009, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gendered-food/513495/37 "2009-10-13T04:05:46Z")
My experience is that prepackaged food is male, while stuff from scratch is female. But that’s because the men in my life are all lazy. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2009, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gendered-food/513495/38 "2009-10-13T04:27:10Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > You’re supposed to remove the shells of the pumpkin seeds? But that’s where all the salt is… I am afraid to put shells into my digestive system. I have enough problems in that area. Instead, to extract as much salt as possible, I put half a dozen seeds in my mouth at a time, and tuck them between my upper gum and upper lip. I suck and maneuver them. I read my book and/or watch TV while I’m sucking. Then I take one seed at a time, crack it, extract the seed, and plop the hull into a plate or bowl, to throw into the kitchen trash when I get up. I try not to throw anything edible or readily decomposable into the den trashcan, which doesn’t get emptied as often. I do wonder if I can or should put the shells into the compost pile. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2009, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gendered-food/513495/39 "2009-10-13T05:07:20Z")
Quaker has flavored rice cakes – white cheddar, caramel corn, chocolate chip. The sweet ones are almost like rice crispie treats. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2009, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gendered-food/513495/40 "2009-10-13T05:21:33Z")
> [@DianaG](#): > > Oh dear… apparently I’m a man. > > I hate yogurt. I wish I liked yogurt, I know it’s good for me, but… blech. I wouldn’t eat a rice cake on a bet. I don’t care how few calories are in it, it’s nutritionally void, so I may as well save the calories and apply them to something I’d actually enjoy. Me too. It’s so good for you but it’s awful tasting. But my dad eats a lot of it. So does my mom. I’m female and do love chocolate so very much. I don’t really like salad–I’m terrible at eating fresh, green food, though I make the effort. That’s all I can think of. Oh, and I hate low cal food, though I’m young enough that my metabolism hasn’t slowed that I need it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gendered-food/513495.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gendered-food/513495.md?page=3)