I was pretty excited when I saw that both Heather and Nate had topics that connected to mine. I cannot agree more with Heather's point on the pervasiveness of media and its potentially harmful effects. While she focused on its ability to persuade the public that Casey Anthony was guilty, my paper may touch on the detrimental effects of media on children. (Still not entirely decided if that topic will digress too much from my main point.) And Nate had an interesting point about how gender stereotypes just help our brains process experiences easier. Without bringing in the negative effects of stereotyping, it is very true that gender stereotypes-- understood by the majority of people-- help to express certain ideas more quickly than explaining them in a more detailed and careful fashion.
Anyways, in terms of post-presentation thoughts... like Chuck said on his blog, preparing for the presentation really helped me to get my direction together. I was struggling with making a call on whether Food Network perpetuates on an overall basis-- but I realize that I don't have to do that. There is really only one study that makes such a call, but I don't think one example is enough for me to make an overall judgment. Instead I will be exploring the balance of stereotyped and non-stereotyped shows on Food Network. Its important to bring up the exceptions to stereotypes and not just bash the channel to prove that gender stereotyping exists. Like Nate said, stereotypes help to communicate ideas quickly. They are something that we understand-- and by no means does that excuse the potential negative effects of them... but it does explain a bit of the psychology.
Leanna brought up a realllllly excellent point about Giada having professional chef training and yet presenting herself as a cook. Sean brought up a good point about Ina Garten's past professional experience in working for the White House (although not cooking related)-- and that she brings this up frequently on her show, contrasting her professional past with now... just cooking for friends and family. It is interesting that Ina also postponed continuing her education in order to get married (she was 20). Of course, Garten lived in a different era. I don't watch Barefoot Contessa often because I have an admitted disdain for Ina Garten, but if it is true that she does talk about her White House past, then her show is a hybrid of tradition (home cooking for the hubby and friends) and break from tradition (discussion of professional life).
In regards to Guy Fieri: his training consisted of working in some restaurants during high school and restaurant management experience, but other than that... no real professional training.
HAHA food network humor is a pretty funny site that I just stumbled upon. Its where I found this picture.. which demonstrates humorously one reason I dislike Ina. Check the site out if you're looking for some funny Food Network jokes.
Hey Irene!
ReplyDeleteGreat project!!
I don't know too much about the Food Network so I'm wondering -- Since there are all these different cooking show and hosts, how are the shows different from each other and does an examination of the differences between shows help support your argument about stereotypical representations? You touched on this idea when you mentioned the way in which one of the competitive cooking shows had a set design that resembled a sports arena. Do the shows with female hosts tend to have sets that resemble family (house) kitchens? Are there any sport-like competition cooking shows that have a main female host/judge that appears in every episode? How do the costumes of the chefs indicate to us the circumstances under which someone that looks like this person would be cooking?
What differentiates the shows in terms of cooking-related- themes? Do the shows have different themes or specialties as far as the specific foods that the host covers? In your presentation you mentioned the Cupcake Wars lead female host (cupcakes being perhaps a traditionally "girly" food) and the two women who purposefully made a lot of meat dishes to break the stereotype of the men being in charge of handling the meat dishes. The man who hosts the show about how to cook with your kids is also breaking the stereotype of female centric child rearing.
Obviously you've already thought about how these shows are different and have some great examples! I'm just pointing to it because was one of the most interesting points of analysis to me and I want to know more about how these shows' themes or focuses break or reinforce stereotypes.
Great work so far!! Very interesting and relevant! Loved your presentation!!
~Ryan
The thing is, a lot of the shows are so similar in their premises... what differs is probably the physical representation of the host, and perhaps his/her personality. I would say the differences in personality is key to arguing about reinforcing/diverting from stereotypes. For instance, Anne Burrell trained at the Culinary Institute of America and Giada de Laurentiis trained at Le Cordon Bleu, yet as someone noted in class... the latter portrays herself as more of a home cook than a professionally trained chef. Burrell is a lot more demanding and firm with her communication. Cupcake Wars does indeed sortof have a purply/pink- though Candace Nelson does appear every episode and is noted primarily for her professional venture. The costumes generally indicate the distinction of professionalism. Home cooks = casualware. Pro chefs = white coats. The big problem is, why does Food Network endorse more males as pro chefs than females as such?
ReplyDeleteIn my writing, I didn't cover the recipe themes of the shows because I don't feel like I could engage in an entirely exhaustive analysis... but that is definitely something I will look further into- either for this class or just as personal curiosity!
Thanks for your input :)