Men eat differently from women, but why?
He orders the tournedos, she orders the steamed salmon. A speciality beer for him, a glass of white wine for her. And the bill? Naturally, it gets passed to him at the end of the meal. Men and women generally eat differently. Where does that difference come from?
Logical, you might think. A thick steak is truly masculine, and women need fewer calories per day anyway. But that difference between ‘masculine’ and ‘feminine’ food has nothing to do with appetite, but mainly with prejudices and half-truths, writes author Nora Bouazzouni in her book Steaksisme.
Afraid of fat
Women would rather not choose pasta, potatoes or rice, and beer and red meat are generally also seen as ‘unfeminine’. This has nothing to do with taste, but everything to do with the ingrained fear of fatty food. For example, an international study conducted in 23 countries shows that women are afraid of eating too much fat, and therefore of gaining weight. Women eat more vegetables and fibre, and go on a diet four times as often as men. Yet this difference cannot be scientifically proven: men only need to eat 500 more calories than women, and according to the French author, that difference is ‘one croissant’. No reason to constantly count calories and push everything containing carbohydrates off your plate, you might say.
Meat, flames: man
At the same time, the food industry stubbornly keeps that difference between ‘masculine’ and ‘feminine’ food alive. Barbecuing, for example, is typically masculine, with all that meat and those flames. You can see it immediately in the marketing surrounding barbecue products: rugged appearances, leather aprons and books by chefs with tattoos up to their armpits. The promotion of rosé beer and crisps that don’t crunch (women supposedly dislike that) is aimed mainly at women. Yes, nothing will ever change that way.
Veggie? What a wimp!
Those prejudices work the other way too. A woman who devours spareribs, preferably with a portion of fries and some extra mayonnaise, is not seen as elegant and refined, but as a sort of glutton. And the man who chooses the vegetarian dish of the day would come across as a wimp, whereas if he orders the tournedos, he is a macho man. There is one exception, Bouazzouni writes: comfort food. A woman with a broken heart is allowed to spoon her way through buckets of ice cream. ‘But it has been scientifically proven that all kinds of emotions actually make you less hungry,’ says Bouazzouni. ‘So that tub of ice cream is nonsense; it is learned behaviour.’
Craving bouillon
Those food preferences are therefore complete nonsense; it’s time to break free from them. Gentlemen, are you craving herb bouillon, with a meal salad as your main course? Go ahead and order it, then we’ll enjoy a beer with bitterballen. Just eat whatever you feel like eating; that always tastes best, right?
Also read:
- Study says: 73% of men would rather die 10 years earlier than give up meat
- So typical: men who save the last little bit for you
- Recipe: chocolate cake with Liefmans beer
Source: AD
