Spitting that Real vs. Keeping it Misogynistic: Hip-Hop, Class, and Masculinity in New Food Media

• In Event: 078 - Section on Sociology of Culture Refereed Roundtable Session
  In Refereed Roundtable 100min: Table 02. Consumer Studies Network

Abstract

A recent study commissioned by Google found that watching YouTube food shows has become a major leisure activity in America, in particular among Millennials (Delgado et al 2015). This paper takes up a distinct genre of YouTube food shows, those geared towards young men. Through a discourse analysis of several seasons of three “flagship” series on Vice’s Munchies Food Network, we explore the construction of food masculinities in new food media. We argue that through the inclusion of minority voices, as well as intensive engagement with hip-hop culture, the hosts of these shows work to challenge existing hierarchies within mainstream foodie culture, while at the same time creating hyper-masculine standards for “dude” food connoisseurship. The construction of food masculinities are demonstrated by social media food stars as they relate to other men, the masculine body, meat consumption, women, and race. This paper aims to complement recent research on food femininities (Cairns and Johnston 2015) while also engaging with methodological debates on the use of visual and media data to study processes of embodiment (Collins 2015).

Authors

• Zachary Hyde, University of British Columbia

• Josee Johnston, University of Toronto