Cooking Up Gender: A Critical Perspective on Gender and Food in Reader's Digest Advertising

Abstract

This research is located at a crossroad of media studies, gender studies and food studies and is set up to explore a supposedly ‘natural’ relation between gender and food. Through a media content analysis of Reader's Digest advertising (1950s-2000s), normative imagery of this relation and its evolution is analyzed. It also includes an exploration of strategies of change, resistance and agency towards this 'natural relation'. This research aims to contribute to media literacy by deconstructing the representation of the relation between gender and food, specifically between women and food preparation, to question a naturalization of gender roles and explore strategies of change.

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