The Psychology of Eating: From Healthy to Disordered Behavior

66 The Meaning of Food

Food as a Statement of the Self

Food provides information about individual identity and acts as a
communication of internal needs, internal conflicts, and a sense of self.
Day-to-day-cooking, shopping for food, and home economics at school
have all traditionally been female activities, as shown by cross-cultural surveys,
magazines, cookbooks, advertising, and studies of newly married couples
(Murdock and Provost, 1973; Murcott, 1983; Mansfield and Collard, 1988).
The individualized meanings of food are therefore closely linked to issues
of gender identity and the notion of being female. In particular, food
represents sexuality, conflicts between guilt and pleasure and between eat-
ing and denial, and an expression of self-control.

Food and sexuality

Some foods are linked with sex and sexuality (see figure 4.2). Advertise-
ments for ice cream offer their product as the path to sexual fulfillment,
chocolate is often consumed in an erotic fashion, and the bestselling book

Self-identity

sexuality

eating vs denial

guilt vs pleasure

self-control

Food

Social interaction

the meal as love

health vs pleasure

power

Cultural identity

religion

social power

culture vs nature

Figure 4.1 The meaning of food.