Latest update: 24 June 2014
I want to create a space for food blogs and publications that address the intersection of gender and food with the consideration and depth the topic deserves. Some of these blogs are primarily about feminism but address food. Some are written by LGBT/queer writers; some by our straight allies. Some are about rejecting stereotypes in culinary culture.
You may ask why food blogs should even address the issue of gender and sexuality. A food blog should be purely about food, right? Yet many food bloggers continue to perpetuate and promote gender stereotypes and gender socialization. Vegan food is “girly” and you can’t get “the guys” to put down the steak and beer to try it? The hypermasculine husband is afraid of “ethnic” food? Home cooking is women’s work?
These stereotypes harm us all. They stifle gender expression as well as the expression of individual interest in food culture.
Be part of the solution. You can do three simple things right now that can help without risking your sanity by getting into a comment flame-war with the dredges of the Internet.
1. Support publications and bloggers who take a stand against gender policing.
2. Make your voice heard. Whether you write your own blog, use social media, or just like to talk to your friends about food, you can help get the word out that gender-policing food (and everything else) is not okay. Take a stand for equality and anti-discrimination at your workplace and in your home.
3. Don’t just keep it to the Internet. Volunteer, donate, and create; support NPOs, scholarships, and media that work to end sexism and homo/transphobia, ensure fair wages, break the glass ceiling, and protect jobs from discrimination.
If you have reading suggestions, please leave a comment! (Blogs, books, articles, dissertations, forums–anything is fine!)
Recommended Reading
Separate from my regular blogroll, here are resources that specifically address nonheteronormativity and food. (The regular blogroll on the sidebar includes neutral food blogs as well.)
Series (Articles)
A gender-neutral guide to carnivores and vegetarians living together on Kitchen Treaty
“Lady Liquor” Series on Bitch
“Lady Chef Stampede” Series on The Braiser
Blogs
Magazines/Media
Books
Aaron Bobrow-Strain. (2012). White Bread: A Social History of the Store-Bought Loaf. Boston: Beacon Press.
I'll Make It Myself! 