As college students, a lot of us will grab some friends, head over to the cafeteria or a restaurant, and have a meal together. It sounds as normative as can be. However, a new study has now demonstrated that the gender of the people one eats a meal with influences how much he or she consumes. The results show that, as most people likely guess, women eat less food when they are around men and more food when they are around women. It is the opposite for men, who eat more when they're with women and less when they're with men. Experts stated that food plays a large role in creating a positive impression on someone. They explained that (especially for college age individuals) women feel more feminine when they eat less around men, and for men, they feel more masculine when they eat more. An alternate explanation is that women feel more relaxed around other women so they eat more. Or, in mixed groups, people in general eat less because they are focused on the social aspect of being in a group versus eating.
This trend is especially apparent on first dates. Some female students claimed that they ate significantly less than they normally do on a first date to give off a good impression.
1. What does this trend say about society's perception of beauty, femininity, and masculinity for women and men? This clearly highlights the belief that skinny women are preferred; is this a growing problem today?
2. Marci Cottingham, one of the authors of the study, stated, "The theory is you're more aware of gender when you're with the opposite gender and may want to prove your gender more." How true do you believe this is, and what aspects of your life does this affect? What does this mean for intersexed individuals?
The article can be found at: http://abcnews.go.com/Health/sex-eating-companions-influences-people-eat-study/story?id=14666081
Regarding the second question, I don't feel that individuals necessarily are more aware of their their gender when eating with people of the opposite gender. However, as the gender stereotype is that men eat more than women, it is easier to digress with people of your own gender. If a woman eats more than the other women she's eating with, she is just more hungry. However, if there a man in the group, her consumption can be compared with the man's and she may be deemed a woman who eats too much. It works in the opposite way for men. While they can eat less than their guy friends, if they are eating with a girl, they have to eat more the girl or they are digressing from gender roles.
ReplyDeleteWhile individuals are just as aware of the gender stereotypes regarding eating, they can be more easily judged based on these stereotypes when they are eating with individuals of the opposite gender.