Well I read the article and it’s actually interesting, although the title comes across as rude and obnoxious. Men who eat like little boys is a terrible description and demeaning. There is important information here about diets, societal views, etc, but couching it in a bad heading isn’t going to improve readership or understanding. It’s going to annoy those it’s targeting.
I’ve always thought I was a picky eater, but I’m clearly not this bad. Most of my issues are sensory. “Mushy” items within a dish gross me out (slimy peppers, chunks of tomatoes), although I don’t mind the flavors on their own. But I do eat vegetables and fruits, even if I tend to stick to a relatively limited offering of stuff I like (don’t get me started on the gate keeping going on over red delicious apples, which I think are fabulous when small and crispy, not the more common oversized, mushy ones).
And hey, chocolate milk once in a while is fine. I prefer strawberry milk, but you do you. Treat yourself folks.
Oh, for heaven’s sake. The article was written in a disparaging tone and that’s what set me off. The original article in Mel was a lot better, by the way.
To answer your rethorical question, yes, there are differences. And bigotry goes both ways, and it pisses me off. Both ways.
Out of curiosity, what made you assume I lived in “western society”?
The problem is that there is a real case of picky/unadventurous eaters and the rather dubious assertion that it is men/women thing. I think a far greater influence is cultural background. People from the US Midwest, particularly those who have not traveled internationally, tend to have a more limited diet than people from or have lived in the coasts.
I didn’t. I assumed that’s what the article we’re all supposedly discussing addresses.
Bigotry? What’s bigoted about asking why some grown men eat like little boys? That question doesn’t state that all do, nor that no women do.
And what’s with defending men as a group in this context? As a group, they don’t need that kind of help; their ongoing dominance as a group shows that.
Because it has a tone of condescension and judgement, talking down to people? The title is clickbaity and trying to drive engagement in a way that “Why are poor diets prevalent in men?” wouldn’t?
About that subject, I wonder if there’s a correlation between men who have a more varied diet and those who engaged in cooking activities with their parents during childhood?
More than half of Brits eat just six different meals on a loop, study finds
Those rotations tend to be normal, especially if one’s budget is limited and it becomes a part of the meal planning process. This article is discussing a much more limited diet both in terms in quantity and nutrional quality of different meals. We’re talking about a repertoire of maybe 4 meals maximum.
I was a latchkey kid and child of divorce, so for most of the week it was fend for yourself with microwavable stuff and fast food. Which suited an already picky eater like me just fine. I don’t blame my mom or dad for that, although I did resent it when they cooked or we went out to eat and they were suddenly on me about not wanting to try new things.
Over time I just made friends who introduced me to new dishes and cuisines, and met doctors who told me how I could make myself feel better and avoid health issues. I’m still not adventurous when it comes to food but I have a larger and healthier and fresher repertoire than what’s being described in the Mel article.
With diets like those described, the people in the article might have a difficult time defining the term in regard to their BMs.
That strikes me as a textbook case of a childish behaviour in an adult.
I agree it isn’t gendered in practise, but American society does have a sexist double standard in how it’s viewed. People don’t talk about “women who eat like little girls” because our society feels it’s more effective to go straight to “women who eat like fat, greasy, gross pigs” when it comes to shaming them for the same diets.
To be clear, I don’t think shaming is particularly effective when it comes to food. But saying “you’re risking health problems if you’re 40 and still eating like you did when you were 10” is not shaming.
It’s an on-going and constant struggle for me because of the bad habits I developed as a child. A big revelation for me was seeing a friend at dinner parties regularly feeding his toddler small, cut-up portions of the same “grownup” food (including veggies) everyone else was eating instead of a separate kids’ meal. It was one of those “why isn’t this the standard way we do things?” moments for me.
It goes beyond food. “Real men” don’t wash regularly (esp. their nether regions, because that somehow turns you “gay”). “Real men” don’t have to care about how they dress or groom themselves (that’s for girls). “Real men” don’t have to keep their homes neat. Etc. It’s all BS but society enables and perpetuates it.
Agreed, but this article isn’t about having it as a treat once a year or every few months. It’s about having it with almost every meal, like many did when they were kids.
What? I was addressing someone who oversimplified the topic to “overly picky eaters,” when the topic is instead masculine forms of eating that haven’t changed since childhood.
As for “saying it’s not just men,” as I said, nothing in the OP says it is just men, does it?
This was my first thought. My father only liked very basic meals - meat, starch, veggie without much variety or sauces. My mother enjoyed a variety of foods, so we kids learned to be curious and try new things. I’ve heard colleagues with children complain that they can’t get their kids to eat more than one thing all day (like a specific brand of cereal), and I think to myself that kid would’ve eaten what my parents prepared - eventually. It would be that or a trip to the doctor to find out what was wrong and correct it well before adulthood. As a kid, we knew no one with this problem.
The title of the article is a little unkind, but it mirrors my own thinking on the issue, for years I told friends that I ate like a toddler.
I did add to my list of things I would eat over the years (mainly Indian food so I could eat with friends after the pub during student days tbh), but I wouldn’t touch a green vegetable and most meals were generally meat, bread and/or potato based. I made it 40-odd years before the lack of fibre and other nutrients really started to take their toll.
It took a firm kick up the arse (which was probably in danger of falling out anyway) from a kind doctor, compassion focussed therapy to help me feel I was worth looking after and several years of step by step work on my eating habits to improve my diet.
I can confirm that it was texture more than taste that I always found objectionable; so much so that my first steps involved blending vegetables and leaves into sauces to disguise the texture. I can now eat a plate full of vegetables like a real grown-up and try to go meat free several times a week.
I’ve always thought it an ironic outgrowth of toxic masculinity that men expect women to cook for them at home but think only men can be chefs in a restaurant.
My wife used to have a sign on the kitchen wall when our kids were young. It read “There are two choices for dinner. Take it or leave it.” And we pretty much stuck to that. We are both pretty adventurous, and the kids grew up the same, with their own twists on it, of course.
I found it interesting, too. I do find it odd, though, that you responded to me, of all the posts here. Someone asked for a definition, and I posted it. No commentary. Just a definition.
I’m no angel myself, avoiding pork (religious reasons), seafood (mostly yuck), and red meat (health), but a coworker put me to shame.
Only ate burgers, steaks, and fries. When we had a business dinner at a fancy ethnic restaurant, he’d deliberately ask if he could get the fries off the children’s menu instead of whatever foreign side the entree came with, then ask for ketchup. Brought his own ketchup in case they didn’t have any. Thought it was hilarious. Only drank Coke. Wasn’t overweight.
He had a quadruple bypass when his colleagues noticed how outwardly sick he was becoming and insisted he see a doctor, which he had almost never done. Doc had told him he was six months from dying.
Now, he exercises and eats mostly salads. Tells us how much he hates it. Thinks it’s hilarious.
… While now in my 40’s I still will eat ‘bachelor chow’, I almost always toss veggies of some form into it. (my iteration of the stuff is a box of Mac n cheese (or pasta and a cheese sauce), ‘some form’ of meat or protein, (tube meat, chunked chicken, tuna, or spam(!)), and a bag of steamed veggies. For me, it’s comfort food, and it’s nearly as easy as putting a frozen pizza in the oven. takes about as long, too, which is also good on ‘low spoon’ days. (i.e., don’t have the spoons to do proper cooking and trashing the kitchen)
Awwww, me, too! I went through phases, but I remember a time, maybe 7th grade, where my breakfast was a sandwich of toasted white bread, cheez whiz, and deviled ham. Just writing that made me gag a little. But I ate that every morning, while being a cross-country runner. The joys and sodium of youth.
I eat a very diverse diet now. People can and do expand their horizons.
