“From seed to table, the food chain is gendered.” (Vandana Shiva, 2009)
In her 1972 essay “Deciphering a Meal,” Mary Douglas posits, “If food is a code, where is the precoded message?” Douglas contends that food carries encoded messages reflecting social relations, providing insights into hierarchy, inclusion, exclusion, and boundaries. Building on Douglas’s perspective, I propose a multi-layered analogy: “If food is a code, as Douglas suggests, then it is a code written in the ink of culture, the grammar of religion, and the syntax of gender. And if we can decipher this complex script, what political narratives do we uncover in every meal?” This expansion of Douglas’s concept allows us to explore how food functions not just as a social code, but as a socio-religious and gendered script with profound political implications.
We all love to eat; through food, we express ourselves and reflect a sense of belonging. The individual and collective identity we form through food infuses with power relations. In this reference, Marcel Mauss, particularly in his work, The Gift (1925), emphasizes how food rituals and exchanges establish social bonds and express communal identity. He argues that food practices are deeply intertwined with religious beliefs, gender roles, and societal norms, shaping interpersonal relationships and community cohesion. In this context, Mauss argues that food is the principal gift that people give each other; food is given to sustain, to create bonds, to maintain relationships. He characterizes this practice as a “total social fact,” emphasizing its fundamental importance in social interactions.
In many religious traditions, including Islam, food is viewed as an act of obedience to God. Islamic egalitarianism emphasizes the spiritual journey and obedience to God as transcending gendered bodies, highlighting the belief that bodies are Amanah (trusts from God). This perspective frames dietary practices as a spiritual duty, where maintaining health is both a modern lifestyle choice and a religious obligation. In this context, integrating religious teachings with contemporary health practices can redefine our understanding of well-being, suggesting that health is influenced by both spiritual principles and modern factors. The aspect of gender is inseparable as well.
More than appetite, Food transcends gender boundaries!
In the words of Michelle Zimbalist Rosaldo in Woman, Culture, and Society (1974), “Today it seems reasonable to argue that the social world is the creation of both male and female actors, and that any full understanding of human society and any viable program for social change will have to incorporate goals, thoughts, and the activities of the Second Sex.”
Do we genuinely engage in cooking as a collective activity, transcending traditional gender connotations, or have we entrenched gender roles and barriers that shape this aspect of our lives? Throughout human progression, food has been intertwined not only with lifestyle and culture but also with societal patterns, reflecting deeper aspects of human interaction and expression.
The distinction between “just eating food” and “just cooking food” is not merely semantic but reflects profound gendered implications that merit closer scrutiny. While both activities are subject to societal norms and expectations, they diverge significantly in their gendered contexts. “Just eating food” (the act of eating) often reflects who eats first and the quantity consumed, which is rooted in hierarchical dynamics. It perpetuates gendered norms from childhood, influencing nutritional distribution along gender lines. This process intersects with class, caste, religion, and other socio-economic factors, shaping how these norms are enforced and experienced differently across genders. For instance, boys may receive preferential treatment in terms of quantity and quality of food due to entrenched socialization patterns and economic constraints. The practice of men eating first, followed by women, reinforces gender disparities that persist and must be addressed practically.
In contrast, “just cooking food” (the act of cooking food) unveils another layer of gender disparity, exposing hierarchical labor divisions, gender roles, and the devaluation of women’s unpaid work. The practicalities of meal preparation and consumption are thus not just about sustenance but are emblematic of broader issues of gender inequality that need to be addressed. Rosaldo’s work on women’s roles within various cultural contexts highlights how food preparation and consumption are deeply gendered activities that reflect broader social structures. The practicalities of who cooks, what is cooked, and who is served are not just about sustenance but also about decoding the social messages about gender, power, and cultural identity embedded within these practices.
Paul Rozin (1996) emphasizes the significance of food in religious narratives, notably the apple in the Adam and Eve story, which plays a pivotal role in both Biblical and Islamic traditions. While both texts attribute disobedience to Adam and Eve, the Qur’an explicitly does not portray Eve as the source of temptation, countering the Biblical depiction. This discrepancy illustrates how cultural interpretations often single out Eve, reinforcing gendered notions of women as symbols of temptation and moral decline. Thus, food-related narratives not only shape religious traditions but also perpetuate traditional gender biases, impacting societal views on gender and dietary practices.
Food has become a powerful medium for expressing and negotiating social values and relationships, revealing how deeply intertwined our eating habits are with our identities and social structures. In examining food within the context of constructing subjectivities and social relationships, it is clear that gender identities are performed and reinforced through culinary practices. Judith Butler’s theory of gender performativity, which posits that gender identity is constructed through repeated behaviors and actions, can be applied to these food practices to illustrate how they shape and reinforce gender identities. For example, the traditional division of cooking roles—women in domestic kitchens and men in professional or ceremonial cooking—both reflects and perpetuates gender roles. In many cultures, grandmothers and mothers are revered for their home-cooked meals, while male chefs gain fame in high-end restaurants. Similarly, religious food practices, where women prepare daily meals and men lead ritualistic offerings, further illustrate this performative construction of gender roles.
Marjorie DeVault’s work, “Feeding the Family: The Social Organization of Caring as Gendered Work” (1991), highlights how traditional housework, particularly food preparation, is typically rendered invisible despite its essential role in family dynamics. She argues for making this labor visible and separable from personal identity and affectionate gestures, emphasizing the societal oversight of recognizing such work as integral to family function and gender roles.
Societal expectations around food choices reinforce gender norms and perpetuate cultural shaming. For example, hearty meals like steaks and burgers are marketed to men, while women are targeted with ads for salads and diet foods. This dichotomy categorizes eating less as feminine and eating more as masculine, with women encouraged to diet and men praised for large appetites and strength. Such expectations manifest in social situations, like women ordering smaller portions on dates while men are expected to finish large plates. When individuals deviate from these norms—women eating more or men eating less—they face cultural shaming that further entrenches these stereotypes, affecting dietary behaviors from an early age and exacerbating gender-based nutritional disparities. Therefore, addressing these ingrained societal expectations is crucial for tackling the roots of nutritional inequality among children. These patterns further illustrate how bodies reshape within the confines of gendered synchronization with socialization and progress through cultural patterns.
In this sense, food-related practices and norms actively shape and define gender identities within cultural and religious contexts, demonstrating the interplay between nature and culture in constructing gender roles. As Sarah Bowen (2014) notes, “Cooking is at times joyful, but it is also filled with time pressures, tradeoffs designed to save money, and the burden of pleasing others.”
Religion is deeply intertwined with cultural practices, and in Islam, the ideal of gender equality often remains elusive. Traditionally, the domestic sphere, including the kitchen, was not explicitly gendered; families operated with communal reciprocity rather than fixed roles. Despite this, preparing food during Muslim festivals is still predominantly the responsibility of women. Modern working Muslim women juggle both professional and domestic responsibilities. Cooking has shifted culturally from being a basic life skill to a gendered-religious obligation for many Muslim women despite Islam’s broader egalitarian ideals. This shift may seem contradictory to Islamic teachings, which do not inherently impose such duties. Shared responsibilities are, in fact, a form of intimacy that partners experience together, and cooking can be an act of love and empowerment. We cannot undermine this aspect. Within this framework, women find freedom and faith altogether. Islamic principles granting women equal spiritual agency, the imposition of gendered food-related roles often undermines their autonomy, confining them within restrictive gender norms.
Examining the interplay of different forms of power within the context of food and agency among Muslim women reveals a complex dynamic. Power-Within allows women to find personal fulfillment through cooking, while Power-To shows their ability to balance professional and domestic roles. Power-With is seen in the solidarity and collaborative efforts when women share cooking responsibilities, which can challenge traditional gender norms. However, Power-Over reflects the restrictive gender norms that impose cooking duties predominantly on women despite Islamic ideals of equality.
Pierre Bourdieu also explores food within the framework of his theory of social distinction. In “Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste (1984),” Bourdieu argues that food choices and preferences are indicators of social class and cultural capital. He argues that taste is a social construct which reflects one’s social position and class status. The consumption of specific types of food, and the manner in which it is consumed, serve to reinforce social distinctions and convey cultural identity.
How is Food Political and Serving Fascism in Plates?
“This battle will have to be waged by every single one of us. The blaze is at our door.” – Arundhati Roy (2022)
Food has always been political, deeply intertwined with morality. Morality often extends beyond religious boundaries, reinforcing distinctions between what one community eats and what another should abstain from to be considered “morally upright.”
Food fascism in India refers to the imposition of strict dietary norms and taboos, often influenced by religious, cultural, and political ideologies, that dictate what is acceptable to eat. This phenomenon leverages the emotion of disgust to enforce moral and social order, creating divisions based on dietary practices. Examples include the prohibition of beef consumption by Hindu nationalists and the stigmatization of pork in Muslim communities, reflecting deeper values and power dynamics rather than mere personal preferences.
Paul Rozin’s (1996) work on the emotion of disgust and its connection to morality emphasizes that our reactions to food often transcend mere taste and nutritional value, encompassing deeper values and ethical beliefs. Disgust, according to Rozin, is a powerful emotion that is closely linked to our sense of morality and self-identity. Integrating Rozin’s argument in “Political Plates” can reveal how gender, religion, and societal norms shape food fascism, demonstrating that what we eat is a reflection of deeper values and power dynamics, not just personal taste.
Religious dietary laws and rituals—such as kosher practices in Judaism or halal practices in Islam—demonstrate how faith shapes and is shaped by food practices, creating a sense of community and identity while also delineating boundaries between different groups.
Do we choose to respect individual food choices, or weaponize them to incite violence and deepen communal divides based on religion?
Morality is more than the disgust! In this sense, Food fascism in India, predominantly driven by Hindu nationalists, often resulting in violence. This is evident in the mob lynching of Muslim men accused of consuming or transporting beef, (Arya, 2016; Abraham & Rao; 2017; Sharma, 2024; Pandey, 2023; Mishra, 2023; MN, 2023; Maktoob, 2024; Geol Sharma, 2024) illustrating how food choices are weaponized to perpetuate religious and political agendas. In contrast, Muslims in India rarely instigate violence over food, highlighting a stark disparity in how food-related moral judgments and power dynamics manifest within the country.
Food fascism perpetuates violence in four key ways. First, it endorses the public lynching of Muslim men under the guise of upholding food sovereignty and Hindu nationalism. Second, it utilizes state machinery to demolish Muslim homes (The Hindu, 2024). Third, it fabricates incidents or falsely accuses Muslims to justify violence or the destruction of mosques. Fourth, it bans all halal items, including meat and halal certification (Zia Us Salam, 2023; Anand, 2023). In this context, Hindu religiosity towards food transcends mere exclusion or hatred in contemporary India.
According to the National Family Health Survey – 4, 70% of women and 78% of men in India consume some form of meat. Southern states (The Hindu, 2016) have the highest number of Hindus consuming beef or buffalo meat, with Andhra Pradesh leading at 32.8 lakh, followed by Tamil Nadu at 31.4 lakh, Kerala at 15.5 lakh, and Karnataka at 9 lakh (Sharma, 2021).
However, the politicization of food significantly impacts the lives of Muslims in India, affecting them politically, economically, socially, culturally, and psychologically. The demonization of Muslims through meat consumption and myths surrounding their population size is not new. Excluding a community becomes more viable and easier through food fascism, which involves both food shaming and food moralizing by communities and the state. This process is linked to cultural shaming and societal control mechanisms, including informing, reforming, shaming, and policing.
Now we are not ‘just serving meals on our plates; we are risking our lives. Concepts of purity, impurity, exoticism, appeal, sensory pleasure, and disgust are now codified by the ideals majoritarianism in India. This politicization of food has transformed into hatred, evolving from mere disgust of emotion to a profound “human disgust.”
In this sense, food transcends mere sustenance; it also becomes a powerful symbol that shapes communities, creates divisions, and fuels political agendas. Now, food choices are not merely personal but are deeply intertwined with concepts of food sovereignty and nationality. There is a noticeable shift from food being a symbol of communitarian identity and harmony to becoming a marker of communal division.
“In other words, Food as a form of colonialism emerges in the politicization of dietary practices, where food choices are weaponized to enforce ideological dominance and marginalize minority communities.”
In contemporary discourse, the faith-based approach to food choices reveals a profound tension between religious obligation and individual agency. Within a religious framework, dietary decisions often transcend personal preferences, embodying a deep sense of obligation to God and spiritual significance. This highlights a critical issue: spirituality and faith-based dietary choices should not be weaponized to perpetuate violence.
This tension becomes particularly apparent when the consumption of non-vegetarian foods, such as beef, is ritualized to the extent that it justifies mob lynching and other forms of violence. Such impositions undermine the dietary freedoms of others and reflect a broader societal failure to appreciate the complexities of faith-based dietary practices. The contemporary disregard for these perspectives marginalizes religious communities and overlooks the nuanced ways in which choice and agency are negotiated within these frameworks.
Just as every meal tells a story, are we reading between the lines of our culinary scripts to uncover the narratives of division and unity they convey?