Chocolate and Gender

Posted on by in Permaculture and Chocolate.

Barb Stuckey, a food developer, writes, “One of the most seductive qualities of good chocolate is that it melts precisely at human body temperature, which provides a textural experience unlike any other food. This fact makes chocolate one of nature’s most perfect foods” (Stuckey 44) These thoughts come from a book written about the science of taste – not chocolate. Why do such powerful and sexual words feel routine when discussing chocolate? This blog post argues that of all the fetishized commodities, chocolate is most closely linked to gender. Chocolate’s historical and mythological origins have morphed into media-hyped sexism. Men consume by purchasing, women consume by “indulging.” This hype has manifested as insincere cravings which are then linked to disordered eating in women. Lastly, chocolate has become feminized and sexualized while men remain in control of the production and distribution of chocolate.

Chocolate in Advertising

If you’re old enough to have watched television in the US, you most likely don’t need visual evidence of the hyper-sexualized depiction of women with chocolate. If you’re not, here is a quick survey of contemporary depictions of the female/chocolate relationship in advertising:

This isn’t unique to the 20th or 21st Century. Victorian ladies were dealing with suggestive ads as well, although: “the gift of chocolate operated within the bounds of accepted cultural rituals but privately represented elements of sexual drive. In other words, public eroticism displayed in packaging was permissible. within Victorian refinement provided that established male–female courtship protocols were adhered to.”(Grivetti 45) To experience the truth of this claim, I recommend a stroll through an aisle ready for Valentine’s day.

Craving Chocolate

It’s impossible not to wonder how the great deal of symbolism in chocolate influences consumption; even without the space to tackle the agency/structure debate. In Beyond Cravings: Gender and Class Desires in Chocolate Marketing, Jamil Fahim asserts that chocolate is the most craved food, pointing out that terms like “chocoholic” and “chocolate addiction” are in everyday use. Fahim argues that chocolate promises to transform the consumer (Fahim 15). “At first glance, chocolate advertising appears to cater to base appetites, but it simultaneously arouses appetites of a social nature by promising to satisfy viewers’ deep-seated desires for sexual fulfillment and higher class status.” (Fahim 2)

Willa Michener and Paul Rozin explored physiological versus sensory cravings in chocolate. They gave each self-rated chocolate craver a chocolate bar, the pharmacological equivalent in capsule form, a placebo, and a white chocolate bar. The participants cravings were only abated by the chocolate bar, and a few cravings were slightly reduced by the white chocolate. The capsules showed no effect. They concluded: “Data indicate no role for pharmacological effects in the satisfaction of chocolate craving.” (Michener 1994)

Chocolate and Disordered Eating

Bliss. Ecstacy.

Silky. Love.

Decadent. Sinful.

 

Words we generally save for intimate moments are often bandied about when describing chocolate. We simultaneously talk about the casual consumption and health benefits of chocolate while mentioning its extravagance. Sarah Gould writes “Chocolate is still a guilty pleasure for women, something they are supposed to crave but equally not supposed to give into without compensatory gym time.” in her piece on chocolate and gender. As early as 1698, chocolate was blamed for making the women of Paris “fat” (Grivetti 172). A study published in 2014 entitled “Chocolate craving and disordered eating. Beyond the gender divide?” linked disordered eating with chocolate cravings and postulated that chocolate cravings were significantly higher among women in North America than in other countries. Fahim writes that while we typically associate addiction with drugs and alcohol more studies are being conducted to prove that chocolate can elicit similar psychological responses (12).

Gendered Patterns of Consumption in Farming

Cocoa production is “deemed a ‘male-crop’” in Ghana and India, while women work behind the scenes as unpaid labor or low-wage casual labor, consistently taking the subordinate role in the growing of cacao. (Barrientos 2014)

Can Feminists Eat Chocolate?

Chocolate is hedonistic as well as part of the North American woman’s selfhood. The symbols woven in and out of chocolate make it necessary to approach this relationship with reflexivity. The over-fetishization of chocolate enables the people who produce it to benefit (way more so than the grower) and obscures the relationship between the consumer and the symbol. The disempowerment of chocolate may be necessary to dismantle the constructs of patriarchal and capitalistic domination.

Terroir at the Pacific Northwest Chocolate Festival

Posted on by in Terroir +.

“The true appreciation of chocolate quality begins with a link between the different spheres of effort.”—Maricel E. Presilla

I haven’t spent enough time with chocolate to fully understand what I tasted, let alone attribute it to terroir. But, at the Pacific Northwest Chocolate Festival, I was able to spend the day with people who can taste the differences, and who are dedicating their lives to the creation of chocolate. I’ll admit, during the day of chocolate tasting and chocolate drinking I was a bit overstimulated. Nevertheless, I wanted to taste and absorb everything on the two floors of Bell Harbor Pier that were dedicated to sampling and talking to chocolate producers.

I immediately headed to Charm School’s table after hearing about them from Saturday morning’s speaker. Charm school’s beans are from Belize, but they’re located in Baltimore. They like to speak to their Baltimore terroir by creating vegan chocolates, adding ingredients local to Baltimore and creating vegan bars. Their bars don’t necessarily taste of Baltimore or Belize, but their identity is their own. The packaging is playful, as are the additions, and everyone behind the table wore ties and charming smiles. The delightful man behind the counter recommended the peanut butter bar; the coconut milk along with the salty peanut butter gave it a super rich mouthfeel.

The Grenada Chocolate Company tells a completely different story. The GCC is a co-operative in Grenada. They are one of the few companies that make chocolate where it is grown. Their factory utilizes solar power and they seem to really care about each one of their employees. As I was tasting the 100% chocolate (ingredients: their cacao beans and butter) I was hearing information from one of the men who had just sailed that very bar to North America . . . by sailboat . . . powered only by wind. The GCC transports cargo in the most pollution-free way possible. Is that why chocolate free of sugar tasted so good?

Next, I headed to Raaka. At Raaka, they believe leaving the beans unroasted is the answer to terroir. The Brooklyn based chocolatier believes that unroasted beans make a bar that highlights each region’s “wild flavors” and different growing seasons. The man behind the table talked about the differences he tastes in cacao grown in Belize versus Bolivia. I purchased their last Ghost Pepper Bar.

At Dandelion Chocolate, their terroir is all about being small in the Mission District. They bemoan Hershey’s purchasing Scharffenberger. The owners, Todd and Cam, assert that most chocolate is produced industrially and big companies want inexpensive, consistent chocolate. According to them, chocolate has more nuances than wine, but big industry has stifled chocolate’s potential. Dandelion chocolate, began making chocolate in a garage in SF to fight this reality.

The most meaningful talk I went to created the most enjoyable chocolate experience. The talk was given by Gillian Goddard of Sun Eaters Organics (finally a woman passing out chocolate). The terroir of her chocolate meant more than what I was physically tasting because I felt that the place it was coming from (their terroir!) was good and kindhearted. GIllian Goddard is an activist and environmentalist who is channeling her energy into creating chocolate in Trinidad. Through her work, she is hoping to change the mindsets of the people in Trinidad who believe “foreign is better.” She uses locally grown sugar and local ingredients (dried bananas instead of cranberries) and focuses on collaboration and relationships. In an industry rife with exploitation, Gillian is excelling under the ideals of permaculture—unequivocally why her bars tasted the best.