Gender splits with food

[mids2019]

I work in a hospital and mainly female nursing staff are bombarded with chocolates from patients. Would the same gift be given to men do you think?

This also got me thinking about other stereotypical food and drink preferences of men and women.

Women = wine. Man = beer
Women = gin and tonic Man= whiskey
Women= salad Man = steak

How did these quite strange in reality stereotypes come from? How come some food and drink is looked on as more feminine or masculine?

There's a book called The Sexual Politics of Meat about this

When Ds Was in hospital we brought the nurses chocolates and cakes to say thank you. I didn't specify it was for the women only, I didn't bring in beers for the boys, I just brought the staff gifts

Oh no, that list means I am 2/3rd man!

I blame Hollywood. They show films with actors and actresses role modelling these preferences and then it becomes a fad.

I grew up thinking men drank coffee and women drank tea.

DD told me the other day that women can be vegetarian but men aren’t. She’s got two uncles she’s close to, one vegetarian, one vegan… This stuff is weird.

The Milk Tray man and other such adverts have played a part in creating and reinforcing these stereotypes

I grew up thinking men drank coffee and women drank tea.

I always believed the opposite.

Men bitter, women lager!

When I was younger, bar staff would always give me the cider and my boyfriend the beer. I hate cider!

An interesting thing to ponder. Takes me back to the time my then boyfriend told me I couldn't have my requested pint of strongbow because it wasn't ladylike so he bought me two halves (at the sane time)🙄.

Pie and chips is probably manly for some unfathomable reason. Ditto red wine. Port. Cigars. Motorbikes. Loud farting. I'm 95% man it seems.

In wonder how these became cultural norms? Marketing?

@SleepingStandingUp

I hope your son is better. If the team handling your child were make would you have still brought chocolates?

It was the case with my parents and all the couples I knew growing up, no idea why. I mean it probably wasn’t but that’s how I remember it. DH drinks tea and coffee, I drink coffee and occasional herb teas.

A slight confession...

For the first time ever, one of my children has a male teacher (primary school, youngest is in Yr6) and I caught myself wondering if rhe usual box of Fudge I buy at Christmas was suitable. Why wouldn't a man like fudge?
I probably won't buy bunch of flowers at the end of the year though like DD1s Yr6 teacher got!

DH is veggie and I love a steak. In restaurants we are more often than not served or offered the wrong food. The assumption is always that steak is for the man and the veggie dish for the woman. It used to amuse me but frankly pisses me off these days.

Yes, we had male nurses on the team. I was pretty sure they wer as partial to a chocolate as the women. Nursing is a weird one tho cos it's rarely a primarily male team, esp in paeds.

In fairness, unconsciously I probably wouldn't buy the random bloke at work chocolates but would the random woman. Odd isn't it.

DH fete toblerones. Now they're manly.

Women coffee, men tea, women fruit tea.

It's odd isn't it?

Flowers of course. At the end of the day they are a plant so why are they given mainly to women? Is it because of colour and women being seen as more vibrant? What is inherently feminine about petals evolved to attract insects mainly. It is quite strange.

"A pint of beer for the gentleman and a fruit based drink for the lady ..." (© Al Murray)

That's exactly why I believed the opposite to you. Mum drank coffee. Dad tea. Actually no idea about most of the men e knew. If we went to someone's house the mums had coffee, dad's were often at work. Kids were given squash.
Although thinking about it my Grandmother drank tea. Other Grandmother and Grandad drank both depending on time of day. Other Grandad, I can't actually remember.

Mind you, I also thought that Dr and Nurse were the same job but that Drs were men and nurses were women.

@mids2019 when I worked in a care home the residents families used to often just buy big boxes of chocolates at Christmas for everyone to share, male and female staff.

Whatever I take or send after a stay in hospital is for anyone on the ward. I ask them to thank the cleaners (mainly women) and porters (mainly men) Sometimes chocolate or biscuits, once some cheese and crackers. Chosen as they can be shared.

I don’t generally get something specific for a doctor or surgeon except the once I had very serious surgery. Both happened to be men, I think it was wine. Would have been the same if female.

The last choir I was in changed to giving all the soloists a wine/other drink, rather than the men getting that and women flowers. Interesting not the other way of all get flowers, but I do think the women were happier with the change from flowers to wine.

I make gin and I reckon our customer base is pretty much 50/50 with make and female customers

Make 🙄

Male!!!

Am I only woman who thinks gin smells like nail polish remover?

Does social convention mean young men are less likely to order a fruit based drink rather than a lager even if they’d prefer it? And then that sticks?

On the rare occasions DH and I go out for cocktails he loves the fruity ones and I like a classic martini, or any drink that’s a glass of booze. We’re always given the others drink.

@BabaBarrio no you are not the only one, gin does smell like nail varnish remover. Or off perfume.

Gin is an interesting one because something like 10 years ago it was nowhere and now everywhere is a gin bar or serves fancy gins, so it's definitely a fashion/social thing.
DH organises a beer festival and they also sell wine and prossecco, and although women do buy and drink beer, the prossecco is nearly all bought by women.
Another thing - neither of us eat meat. I've never had any issues (apart from from my parents but that's a different matter) but he has had stick for being less than male, for not eating proper manly food like meat and especially steak.