Eating like a man. Food, masculinities and self-care behavior
Résumé
What part do food practices have in gender identification processes? How do they reveal wider reconfigurations of masculinity models? This article is based on findings from a sociological qualitative research on men (40–63 years old) living in France and Italy. This paper examines how men regard their food practices as a core activity to prevent or cure illness and delaying the aging process. In adopting healthy food practices regarded by the interviewees as “alternative” or “dissident” (e.g., fasting, vegetarianism, veganism) men viewed their masculinity as being challenged – especially by other men. Thus, they seek new strategies to assert dominant profiles in gender hierarchies by negotiating new forms of masculinities through monitoring their health and wellbeing. Interestingly, the findings show that, by doing this, men both adhere to eating habits that themselves may define as feminine and use these supposedly feminine food practices as a tool for shaping dominant masculinities.