Bordeau reading response

Although I didn't completely understand what bordeau was talking about, I agreed with his ideas of how certain motifs can define the identity of a society and people as individuals. I disagree with his analysis of defining gender by whether or not they induce"strong" food and drinks. The "principle of the division of foods between the sexes" is completely rediculous and stereotypical. Women don't sit around picking at 'tit-bits' of leftover food and weak drinks and aren't necessarily "satisfied with a small portion." I know many women who can eat as much if not more than men's meals of powerful food. Then Bordeau goes on to say how women depend on cosmetics to surrender to society's culture...I'm not really sure why he stereotypes genders so much but I understand that gender roles in society define the world we live in, and many times they can be true, but there are many different kinds people in society who's identities are largely defined by their eating habits. Both men and women are vegetarians and vegans and it has nothing to do with being strong or weak or gender roles in society, but personal beliefs on either environmental causes or otherwise. I was a vegetarian for 13 years not for environmental reasons or beliefs I just didn't like the taste of meat. Now as an anemic 18 year old, I have aquired the taste for beef and eat "manly" portions frequently.

Times have definetly changed since the days when women were constantly on their feet serving their husbands. This may have seemed like a good way of defining society in the past, but I'd like to think that there are more equal roles in families and living situations now and society cannot be determined by family roles alone. I agree that there is a certain art about the presentation of food; I consider art anything that has been thought out by the artist, with or without a purpose.

I found the table of data very interesting and I think it's kind of a strange way to analyze people (by their ways of "entertaining".) In my family,we rarely eat dinner together and when/if we do, it's not for entertainment purposes and even in larger family gatherings we never have organized entertainments such as games or singing after meals.

Bordeau goes on to anazlye other objects and ideas that define the middle class culture including shoes/clothes and self-presentation, and "petite bourgeoisie." Most of it to me came of as extremely biased and sexist although I understand that in culture, the way of defining them includes pointing out certain images and groups such as economic/social, education, homelife, wealth, genders and individual taste attribute to understanding the ways of middle class life.