Abstract
In a twenty first century neo-liberal era, everyday foodways are a powerful means of drawing boundaries between social groups, distinguishing the ‘self’ from the ‘other’, defining who we are and where we belong. Throughout this book I draw upon data and analysis of 75 auto/biographical food narratives that formed the basis of my doctoral study: ‘Ourfoodstories@e-mail.com; an auto/biographical study of relationships with food’. My research leads me to argue that everyday foodways enable individuals to present themselves as responsible neo-liberal citizens, so that eating healthily for example demonstrates an engagement with public and medical discourses that positions the self as responsible for her or his own health and well-being (responsible individualism). In this book, I emphasise the power of everyday foodways in maintaining and reinforcing social divisions along the lines of gender and class. Indeed, everyday foodways have become a potent means of ‘doing gender’ (West and Zimmerman 1987) and performing a middle class habitus (Bourdieu 1984).
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© 2015 Julie M. Parsons
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Parsons, J.M. (2015). Introduction. In: Gender, Class and Food. Palgrave Macmillan Studies in Family and Intimate Life. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137476418_1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137476418_1
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-56162-9
Online ISBN: 978-1-137-47641-8
eBook Packages: Palgrave Social Sciences CollectionSocial Sciences (R0)