The story goes that Lord Byron couldn't bear to see women enjoying their food. In ones of his letters, he described his new Italian mistress eating 'chicken wings, sweetbreads, custards, peaches, port wine....a woman should never be seen eating or drinking unless it be lobster and champagne, the only true feminine viands'.
Apparently women aren't supposed to enjoy their food in public. The (male) principal at my all-girl Catholic high school had a very strict rule on students' behaviour after schools hours - NO EATING IN PUBLIC. I never thought to question the reason for this at the time (although, in defiance, I most certainly enjoyed my fair share of hot chips from the local fish 'n chips shop on the way home from school), but I now wonder why? Why shouldn't women be allowed to enjoy their food publicly??
Does it, as Freud would probably suggest, come back to sex? Does a varacious appetite for food translate to her burning desire for her own flesh and body to be consumed? Think of the images of Kirsten Dunst playing Marie Antoinette, surrounded by cakes, brioche and other sweets....there is no doubt, an erotic undertone to these images.
Or, is Marie Antioinette indulging so extravagantly because she is losing control? It seems that women and girls must be seen to be 'in control' of their (food or non-food related) hunger. If a female is seen to be losing this control and gorging on food or sex, (or shoes, even!), she is viewed no longer as a desirable partner, but maybe even a little 'unhinged'... It is unfortunate that now, with these archaic views surrounding women and their food consumption, the result is that of young girls starving themselves in order to conform to society's image of the perfect woman.
Thankfully, in recent decades, there has been a push by mainstream media to quell these old standards, and embrace a woman's natural beauty, instincts and desires, which has resulted in changing perceptions of women's roles in the community. Governments around the world have also established health policies that incorporate dealing with eating disorders, and education policies that help to build young womens' self confidence. Sadly, there are still many others in the mainstream who refuse to see women as more than objects of a certain ideal of perfect....to those, I say.....
Let them eat cake!!
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