CI 5150 Week 8 - Edible Popular Culture;The Food Network

PART ONE - READING RESPONSE

In their essay titled "Popular Culture and the Dark Side of Food," Walker and White (2008) propose the argument that the human constant of food is yet another popular culture artifact both reflective of, as well as shaped by, dominant American (or arguably global) cultural ideologies:

"Food is a window into culture; it allows us to experience and sample cultures different from our own without leaving our homes; it serves as a means of transporting, transforming, and maintaining cultures. According to many, food is culture. Catherine Manton refers to to food as everyone's first language... Food is necessary for all cultures to survive; to live, people must eat... Food, consumerism, media, and the power of big business have a complicated and multifaceted relationship in American culture; separating them is difficult" (131).

Nowhere is food's multifaceted relationship to popular American / global culture and the media more explicit than on the Food Network, a cable television network where round the clock programming is devoted to a single topic; food! On the surface, the Food Network arguably works to challenge American (and arguably global) society's current obsession with figure, image, weight, and dysfunctional eating patterns, instead broadcasting the more subversive message that it is "O.K." for Americans and viewers to eat and enjoy food (Walker and White, 2008, 132). However, close, critical analysis of the Food Network's programming, particularly male vs. female on-air chef personalities, may reveal a much less than subversive message; the thin body is still the ideal body. In other words, upon close, critical examination, the Food Network arguably continues to further deleterious ideological paradigms equating individual power and control, especially for females, with body size, favoring of course thinness (e.g., the thinner you are, the more power and control over that power you have) (Walker and White, 2008, 134).

Although Walker and White (2008) do not explicitly say so in their text, I argue that linguistic discrepancies / double standards between how men and women are perceived depending on their body figure / image helps lay bare various underlying ideologies. Therefore, this discrepancy can be illustrated via the common language we use to refer to men and women of various sizes. For example, a man on the "overweight" end of the spectrum is usually referred to via language with MORE affectionate, gentle, and overall positive connotations such as "husky," "strong," "cuddly," and so on. Conversely, a man on the "underweight" end of the spectrum is usually referred to via language with MORE negative connotations such as "scrawny," "weak," "gangly," and so on. In other words, the very language we use constructs the ideal male figure / image as leaning toward the larger end of the weight spectrum, as male weight is connotatively associated with great personal control, power / will power, care of oneself, as well as great authority, credibility, expertise, and so on.

However, the exact opposite appears to be the case for women. For example, a woman on the "overweight" end of the spectrum is usually referred to via language with MORE negative connotations such as "chubby," "fat," "thick," and so on. Conversely, a woman on the "underweight" end of the spectrum is usually referred to via language with MORE affectionate, gentle, and overall positive connotations such as the department store favorite "petite," as well as "thin," "small," "little," and so on. In other words, in contrast to men, the very language we use constructs the ideal female / image as leaning toward the smaller end of the weight spectrum, as female weight is connotatively associated with poor personal control, power / will power, care of oneself, as well as poor authority, credibility, expertise, and so on.

For a television network devoted to nothing but food, talking about food, eating, talking about eating food, enjoying, and talking about enjoying food (you get the gist), the Food Network doesn't appear to be doing much to break down, challenge, and otherwise subvert dominant ideological constructions of the ideal male vs. female figure / image. Instead, the Food Network appears to reinforce and perpetuate dominant, pervasive ideological paradigms as the on-air chef personalities further construct the aforementioned dominant gender discrepancy / double standard. In other words, the male chefs tend to be large, masculine figures, and the female chefs tend to be thin, feminine looking figures.


For example, meet Italian chef Mario Bitali who is featured in Food Network programs such as the explosively popular Iron Chef and Meet Mario Bitali.

Although not "obese," Mario is no doubt a portly man. In combination with this particular pose, Mario's size conveys the connotative associations of power, authority, expertise, and credibility over his trade; cooking.

However, Mario still appears soft in a certain way, almost "jolly."










Similar examples include Chef chef Paul Prudhomme as well as the likewise wildly popular Emeril Lavigne. BAM!

Overall, the portly figures / images of these on-air chef personalities reinforce the message to viewers that men like to eat, and they should eat and enjoy their food as it will make them bigger, stronger, more masculine, and so on.







In contrast, various on-air female Food Network chefs appear to send a different, and much less subversive message to viewers.


For example, meet Italian Chef Giada de Laurentiis. In contrast to her portly and "overweight" male culinary peers, Giada is arguably the definition of the ideal female figure / image; she is thin / petite, white, and otherwise absolutely beautiful. In fact, I know many individuals that watch Giada's show just for her shocking beauty. In fact, they probably have absolutely NO idea that the show is about an otherwise boring and uninteresting subject to them; cooking!

In contrast to our male chefs' portly sizes connoting a sense of authority, power, control, expertise, credibility, and so on over their culinary trade, Giada's thin size similarly connotes her identity as an expert chef; the standard is completely reversed. In other words, if Giada was the same size and / or had the same body figure / image as Mario, Pual, and Emeril, would viewers "buy" her as a competent chef in complete control over her culinary trade?

As a result of her four, count 'em FOUR, shows on the Food Network (Most Popular Recipes, All About Giada, Everyday Italian, and Giada at Home), Giada's image has further transformed / been transformed into a pseudo porn vixen to perhaps further convince viewers that yes, she is in control of and an expert with the food she cooks. See for yourself!



Now readers, I have some news for you that I am sure will not come as a surprise... If you eat to not only survive, but truly enjoy the types of delicious Italian food that Giada cooks across her 4 shows, you WILL NOT have the figure / image of Giada, no matter how hard you try. Similarly, eating these types of food WILL NOT be the way to model stardom.

Again I ask you - if Giada did not have this type of ideal feminine figure, would viewers invest her with the same amount of authority, power, control, expertise, credibility, and so on over her culinary trade? Furthermore, would viewers be as interested in seeing (or perhaps more intense, requiring) a similar chef-to-model transformation with our friends Mario, Paul, or Emeril in a magazine such as Playgirl?









As Walker and White (2008) state, "The role of the media cannot be overlooked or underestimated in the creation of the ideal female body. Popular television glorifies this as sexy, successful, and happy" (134). And as I've worked to explore throughout this blog entry, even a media network concerned with cooking, eating, and enjoying food is not "immune" to the perpetuation of dominant, gender-based ideological paradigms. And if you ask me, this is an EXTREMELY wasted opportunity! Via the incorporation of female chefs more representative of their actual audiences, the Food Network COULD HAVE dealt a potentially effective and subversive blow to the dominant ideological paradigms that the ideal male figure / image is the husky man, and the ideal female figure / image is the thin woman.






And don't get me wrong, the Food Network does in fact include some of these more subversive on-air chef examples. Take Paula Deen who is featured in five, count 'em FIVE, Food Network programs (Most Popular Recipes, All About Paula, Paula's Best Dishes, Paula's Home Cooking, and Paula's Party). In contrast to the thin and model-esque Giada, Paula is a much more "average" looking woman more reflective of her actual television audience. Also, Paula is actually seen eating and enjoying her food vs. sensually playing around in it! In contrast to Giada, this potentially sends the more subversive message to average female viewers that it is in fact "OK" to not only cook, but actually eat and enjoy food! Oh, and just another tid-bit of information... Although Puala may not be considered as youthful, beautiful, and so on to many audiences, she is still wildly, and I'm talking WILDLY successful as an on-air chef personaility, earning millions upon millions of dollars throughout her career, as well as branching out in other media outlets including print.





Given the media and popular culture's ability to not only reflect, but actively shape the ideologies, assumptions, values, world views, and so on that we internalize as a global people, I argue that REAL global change can be made via critical analysis and revision of the messages media and popular culture sources output. In the specific case of the Food Network, perhaps including more on-air chef personalities not only EATING and ENJOYING the food that they make, but actually representative of the viewers that they are cooking for in figure and image, would at least be a start in shifting our ideological paradigms for the better, and literally healthier. But, I'm betting that the magazine that Giada modeled for sold a lot, and I mean A LOT of copies. However, we have to ask ourselves a central question- What is more important? Making short term profits? Or creating a society where people's success and perceived levels of power, control, expertise, credibility, are not defined by their body figure / image?

Unfortunately, although I imagine that you and I don't have trouble arriving at an answer to this question, our response will ALWAYS be at a conflict with corporate profit interests. Until this conflict changes, many men and woman will spend hours cooking a meal, but later feel too guilty to eat and enjoy it. And might I had, food is just a metaphor here. The overall implications this discussion of food has to our global society are much worse. But, that's another blog entry!

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PART TWO - ASSIGNMENT

Although this isn't my original idea, it's a great one, and I hope you find it beneficial!

In Professor Rick Beach's CI 5475 Digital Writing class, we recently discussed the use of mobile, digital note taking tools that allow students to take detailed, mult-modal field notes. Although this list is by no means comprehensive, some of the digital note taking technologies we discussed and actually used in class (more on that in a minute) included cell phones to take and transmit digital textual notes, digital photographs, audio samples, and videos; digital cameras to take photographs and videos; digital audio recorders to record of course audio; GPS devices to record the exact position of note taking, and so on.

In order to then practice using these digital note taking tools, Professor Beach then gave us the following ethnography-esque assignment that deals with this week's chapter on food and popular culture. In short, I definitely plan on using this assignment with my students, and I hope you find it interesting and useful.

FAST FOOD ETHNOGRAPHY

Step 1: Explore with your students in whatever way is appropriate to your unique learning context the role(s) that fast food chains play in American culture. Again, although you can tackle the task however you wish, I recommend the following point of access:

-Explore with students the idea that many individuals argue that American fast food chains promote a sort of irrelevant "anti-culture." In other words, given the ubiquitous saturation of fast food in not only American, but global markets, many individuals argue that fast food is in a sense "culture-less."

-Question this assumption with your students, and pose the following essential questions.

• Are fast food chains truly "culture-less," or do different fast food chains contain and reinforce certain ideologies, values, assumptions, world views, and so on of their own?
  

Step 2: Then, and this is the fun part, group students into small groups, provide them with various digital note taking tools, and have them actually visit various fast food chains and take field notes in the form of textual, audio, and video observations in order to engage this essential question and explore the cultures, and / or lack there of, of popular fast food chains.

In Professor Beach's class, the class was split up into groups of ~4-5 students, and further divided up among the various fast food chains of the Dinkytown area including McDonalds, Pot Belly, Subway, Burrito Loco, Qdoba, Bruegger's Bagels, and so on to complete this assignment. Our field notes consisted of photographs of the locations, audio / video interviews with staff and patrons, GPS based maps and diagrams, textual notes, and so on. Really, very creative and interesting stuff!

Step 3: Once students visit their locations and gather their digital notes, they could then create wiki entries in which they explore the location they visited through the lens of the above essential question. Then, students could present these findings in groups, or whatever else you come up with as a class.

For a more detailed example of what this overall project and final product might "look like," visit the "Depicting Dinkytown" wiki which we created following our completion of this assignment in CI 5475. I hope you found this activity interesting and useful!

http://depictingdinkytown.pbworks.com/FrontPage

IMAGES USED

http://archives.starbulletin.com/98/01/28/features/art.gif

http://dirtyharrysplace.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/prudhomme.jpg

http://www.ecorazzi.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/emeril.jpg

http://static.open.salon.com/files/giada-de-laurentiis1239729856.jpg

http://www.foodnetworkfans.com/forum/attachments/giada-de-laurentiis/6d1185240182-giada-photos-esquire-giada-delaurentiis-1-0807.jpg

http://michaelscomments.files.wordpress.com/2007/07/giada-delaurentiis-3-08073.jpg

http://www.delish.com/cm/delish/images/8M/GHK0508WEpaula003-lg.jpg