Feeding the Body

Source

           Society's relationship with food has resulted in the creation of many cultural connotations surrounding the act of eating. As demonstrated by Joan Jacobs Brumberg in her article, “The Appetite as Voice”, woman are often the ones that suffer most from the relationships defined by society. As is often portrayed in the media, a woman eating food is linked very closely to sex. This is emphasized when the woman is eating indulgent foods such as sweets or meat and the woman's moral character is brought into question.

          The commercial displayed above is for chocolate, a food that woman traditionally “love” and is considered a food of decadence. In the commercial the two women search a man's bag and discover that it is full of chocolates, they respond by immediately eating one of the chocolates and turning to the man in lust, saying that they will need to strip search him as they admire his butt. The commercial ends with them forcing him to leave the chocolates behind and, as he walks away, the man refers to the women as "crazy". This commercial presents a lot of ideas similar to the arguments made in Brumberg's article about women's appetite in the Victorian Era. One of the integral parts of the article is about the close association of food and sex. The author states, “appetite was regarded as a barometer of sexuality...these sorts of foods [chocolates, meats, etc.] stimulated the sensual rather than moral nature of the girl” (166). In the commercial, these women display the same extact trait. As soon as they are placed in the presence of chocolate they are very sexual, they act on impulse and are not afraid to express their sexuality.

          This also provides a commentary on our society's understanding of women's relationship with sex. The women in the commercial are very forward, and very exaggerated in their sexuality. They are portrayed as laughable and incapable of controlling themselves or displaying proper ettiquette. The man calls them “crazy” as he leaves, indicating that he does not want to be around women that are so sexual in nature, and that they are abnormal for being so.

          The women's desire for the chocolates in this advertisement and their overt sexuality creates a direct link between eating and sex. The link is drawn from the fact that the chocolate is a very indulgent and pleasurable food, and women that eat it so openly are thought to be morally questionable. The fact that this association to sex is linked to questions of morality shows that our society has very specific understandings of what is acceptable in terms of sex. Women who want to have sex are portrayed in a comedic light, because our culture tells us that sex is bad, and women that want to have sex are not within the bounds of society's norms.  


Reading:
Brumberg, Joan Jacobs 1997. "The Appetite as Voice." In Food and Culture: A Reader. Carole Counihan and Penny Van Esterik, eds. New York: Routledge. Pp 159-179.