Food and Femininity by Kate Cairns and Josée Johnston

Abstract

Driven by a central question—“why do so many women care so much about food?”—Cairns and Johnston investigate the contemporary contours and connections between food and femininity, detailing the diverse ways these two things intersect and emerge in women’s lives. Their research is done in a Canadian context where, they argue, food is used as a standard to judge a good mother, a responsible caregiver, a discerning consumer, a healthy woman, and an ethically minded shopper—standards that are not easy to achieve, particularly if time and money are scarce. Nowadays, given that food is so central in the lives of many North Americans, the increasing consumer concern over the unsustainable nature of the current food system, and the intensity with which feminine food standards are applied to women, this book is both timely and timeless, and illuminating for anyone interested in food and gender.

Keywords

• gender
• feminist studies