Fellow feministings, I need your help. I am a food historian finishing up my degree in history, which is dependent upon one last article-length paper due next month. The working title of my paper is "Dead Meat: The Genderization of Meat in Twentieth Century America" (dead meat, of course, referring both to the slaughtered animal being consumed, but is also a slang term for a prostitute dating back to the sixteenth century). The reason for the double entendre is that not only am I examining how the literal consumption of meat has been constructed as a masculine endeavor, but I am also examining the metaphorical presentation of women as objects of meat intended for consumption by a male gaze. And while I'm trying to present as non-biased examination as possible, I'm hopeful that after reading my paper, a third interpretation will emerge, one that plays on the popular connotation of "dead meat" as slang for one that is doomed.
Here's how you can help: I'm looking for ads, videos, illustrations, etc... that commodify women as meat objects. I'm thinking of meat bikinis , the shameless antics of Peta and recent ads for Burger King and Arby's -- the older the example, the better (within the twentieth century). I'm also looking for personal anecdotes and examples in which men have been shamed or made to feel less than manly because they abstain from eating meat. A perfect example is this recent Hummer commercial that ends with "Restore the balance." The original tagline, however, read "Restore your manhood," and was changed only after a significant contingent of offended viewers complained.
I plan on posting excerpts from the finished paper on my website , and will also include recommended graphics and/or illustrations in an upcoming online gallery I'm developing, which will also feature my collection of vintage food and cosmetics/beauty products advertisements. Your help is much appreciated!
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In line with your meat bikinis link, there was an episode of America's Next Top Model a few years ago when the models were asked/forced to wear bikinis made of meat. And if I remember correctly Tyra said something like, "This is how the industry is going to treat you, so you might as well get used to it."
I will see what else I can come up with since this is a subject that I am really excited about! My research is about cannibalism and I have come across a number of mostly pornographic sites which depict women's bodies as literal food. If you are interested let me know and I will send them. Good luck!
The Target Women Sarah Haskins did on Carl's Junior Hamburgers might help:
http://current.com/items/89939735_sarah-haskins-in-target-women-carls-jr.htm
Sorry, this is probably too vague.
But I do remember an article in Bitch Magazine within the past few years that examined just what you're talking about. I think it was in this issue:
http://bitchmagazine.org/issue/34
There are a few books on the subject that you might find useful:
The Sexual Politics of Meat: http://www.amazon.com/Sexual-Politics-Meat-Feminist-Vegetarian-Critical/dp/0826411843/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1241104544&sr=1-1
The Pornography of Meat: http://www.amazon.com/Pornography-Meat-Carol-J-Adams/dp/0826416462/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1241104544&sr=1-2
I hope that helps!
You could search the tags in Sociological Images:
http://contexts.org/socimages/
They have a lot of neat visuals. Try looking under "food" or "animals."
Australians were outraged a couple of years back when Sydney's most well known Muslim cleric referred to women as uncovered meat.
Here are a few links to get you started:
initial article from main national newspaper
exact translation
Good luck!
I'm sure you've already found this one -
(i tried to embed this, but it might not work so here's the url):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Anl_7Q05C8c
also, burger king's slogan is "anything else would be burger queen".