The Sabre

Issue date: 3/3/10 Section: Opinion

A few years ago, while mindlessly fliping through the T.V channels, I happended to come across a program completely focused on chocolate. The multitude of sweet treats depicted throughout the progam had me captivated and sudenly craving a candy bar. Unable to peel myself away from the T.V. I spent thirty minutes listening to Alton Brown explain the process of making chocolate on Good Eats, a program on Food Network. After my first Food Network experience I soon became hooked and found myself enjoying the various cooking themed programs. Aside from my mindless T.V viewing, I never took the time to actually analze the various Food Network programs until I stumbled upon a journal article.

The article Domestic Divo? Televised Treatments of Masculinity, Femininity and Food focuses on the current presentations of gender on the Food Network. This article compared the cooking activities of male and female hosts on Food Network, in order to determine that cooking is no longer strictly women's work. However, throughout this discussion it became clear that although men are portrayed in the kitchen, their roles and responsibilites differ greatly from women.

This article explored the differences in the private and public kitchen, as well as the multiple differences in male and female cooking. The private kitchen has always been considered a feminized space, whereas the public kitchen has been dominated by men. For instance, women are responsible for daily meals, as well as juggling motherhood and work. Males however, have only recently entered the kitchen and their presence is most often seen as grill masters or creative artists, who cook only as a hobby. These ideas are clearly illustrated throughout Food Network programs such as Iron Chef America or Dinner: Impossible and 30-Minute Meals or Paula's Party. This article focused on cooking codes, cooking as leisurely entertainment, cooking as journey and cooking as competitive contest.

In order to better understand the depiction of males and females in the kitchen, this article focused on 200 hours of original programing on the Food Network. The results of this study found that gendered notions of culinary tasks are supported through media. To protect the concept of masculinity men enter the kitchen as scientists, chefs, athletes and entertainers (Swenson, 50). To reinforce female roles the media presents women as approachable, casual, domestic cooks who prepare meals for friends and family (Swenson, 42).

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