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Body Image, Gender, and Food

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Food and Agricultural Ethics

  • 142 Accesses

Synonyms

Consumption; Embodiment; Identity; Representations

Introduction

While human bodies must consume food to live, lives are organized around the actual harvesting, gathering, preparing, and eating of food. These practices, particularly consumption, are deeply cultured and gendered. The ranges of appropriate body sizes and shapes are also highly gendered. In the USA, men on average are 5.5 in. taller and 29.3 lb heavier than women (CDC 2012b). Though not all men are larger nor all women smaller, they are expected to be based on feminine and masculine body ideals. Most people strive for socially and culturally normative body sizes.

The presentation of self as a gendered person is achieved through the use of markers and symbols, including clothing, hairstyles, and jewelry. Humans manage their interactions with others using behavior and physical activities considered appropriate for one’s sex category (Goffman 1959). Internal and external body image, its size, shape, contours, and...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Sociology and Gender Studies, Purchase College, State University of New York, New York, NY, USA

    Prof. Lisa Jean Moore

  2. Sociology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina, USA

    Mari Kate Mycek

Authors
  1. Prof. Lisa Jean Moore
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  2. Mari Kate Mycek
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Correspondence to Lisa Jean Moore .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Michigan State University Dept. Philosophy, East Lansing, Michigan, USA

    Paul B. Thompson

  2. University of North Texas Dept. Philosophy & Religion Studies, Denton, Texas, USA

    David M. Kaplan

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Moore, L.J., Mycek, M.K. (2013). Body Image, Gender, and Food. In: Thompson, P., Kaplan, D. (eds) Encyclopedia of Food and Agricultural Ethics. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6167-4_6-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6167-4_6-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-007-6167-4

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