Anthropology 295: Anthropology of Media

The presentation today about food made me realize the strong connections between the ideal image of food and ideal body image. Both are obviously unattainable, yet we are so taken in by this perfection. I find myself glancing through magazines just to see these perfect, air-brushed bodies and faces. Could the same go for food? Why do my roommates spend hours everyday sitting in front of Rachel Ray, while eating cereal? There is something extremely alluring about these beautiful/manly people in their perfect, elaborate kitchens, shining a little too bright with stainless steel. There is also this strong idea of comfort. Many of us associate cooking with our mothers (or fathers) and this might make us think of the comfort of home....of the days when meals were prepared for us and we weren't off on our own, making our own decisions about food or life. A lot of us might also want to cook like Rachel Ray or the Iron Chef but get more pleasure out of somebody doing it in the perfect conditions, with all the right ingredients, perfectly chopped. There's no work we have to do....we just have to non-energetically stare into this box of the quintessential kitchen/world/woman/man/dish for dinner. It's so much better watching then actually doing. Are cooking channels or tv in general making us more passive? When we realize we could never attain this beauty/body/meal, it's easier to give up and apathetically watch others. Could we really attain this perfect dish if we tried??? Maybe we are afraid of failure so it's just easier to click to the cooking channel and see this ideal meal made in a fantasy world. And for the girls that mentioned the sexiness of Jamie Oliver etc. it's sometimes nice to see a hot man with a hot skillet using skills other than just looking good. And from the male perspective, it might be appealing to see a good looking woman use her expertise in the kitchen. I mean what more could a guy want? A hot woman who can also cook for them......