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rmadden's review
informative
slow-paced
2.5
There were parts that were so interesting. But some of it was too academic for me and was so slow. Interesting topic though!
ltux's review
4.0
In “Diners, Dudes, and Diets,” author Emily Contois explores the cultural history of America through the lens of “gender contamination,” or what marketing scholar Jill Avery describes as “consumer resistance to brand gender-bending.” (1) Contois walks us through the gendered landmines of marketing strategy that attempt to increase market share while simultaneously creating objects of American consumerism that define our culture through our interpretations.
Contois begins our journey introducing us to gender within our social structures and then the general marketing sphere. In this introduction she gives us our first taste of “the dude,” defining him as the guy who resists “the demands of manhood like competitiveness and breadwinning, the dude relaxes.” (4) Next, the reader and “the dude” get a little history lesson, showing us briefly, American Consumer culture and the gender crisis throughout history up to 2000. Contois’s focus for the book really starts here as she shifts the tone of the book away from historical consumerism and into modern marketing techniques directed at gendered products from 2000 to today. She quickly whisks us through the crafting of “the dude” in food media in everything from advertisements to men’s cookbooks and their influence on the masculine American identity.
Of course, what would dude food be without the dude chef? We are taken on a quick tour of the early days of dude chefs like Emeril Lagassi, quoting Food Network president and CEO Erica Gruen as saying, “Sociologically I think the biggest thing we did was Emeril. I think it’s Emeril who made it possible for men to cook.” (39) But it’s the king of Dudetown himself, Guy Fieri, and his rise to the top of dudeness that Contois seems to focus her energy on. Next on the menu is the production of dude foods and how marketers work to masculinize traditionally “feminine” products like diet soda and yogurt. But products aren’t the only thing to be masculinized to gain dude sales, and Contois takes her time explaining the delicacy of the male health and diet industry. For the final course, we are brought back to our classic dude, Guy Fieri, and the value the dude provided the marketing and consumer industries and the ever-changing world that “he” finds himself in as gender fluidity becomes more dominant in our culture.
Contois utilizes a large array of sources to support her arguments throughout the book, pulling information from print media like Men’s Health and Esquire Magazine as well as scholarly articles, books, and online resources. She also uses information and anecdotal evidence from numerous television shows like the Next Food Network Star and Guy Fieri’s Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives. Her method feels as if she utilized genderized products and media within her daily life and then built from there, pulling from sources to support her arguments such as the book Watching What We Eat by Kathleen Collins for analysis of race in Food Network programming.
Contois’s easy writing style seems relatively accessible to most readers. It felt a bit academic even with her use of humor and brands readers may relate with like Dr. Pepper, WeightWatchers, and WhiteClaw. And although I wouldn’t say that anything Contois wrote was overly surprising since I think most people know that gendering products to increase sales and influence our behaviors is a thing in our society, it was interesting to see it laid out in this way. At only 130 pages it’s a quick read and I’m inclined to recommend it to friends or family who might be interested in this subject, but I don’t think it’s something a wider audience would likely read.
Contois begins our journey introducing us to gender within our social structures and then the general marketing sphere. In this introduction she gives us our first taste of “the dude,” defining him as the guy who resists “the demands of manhood like competitiveness and breadwinning, the dude relaxes.” (4) Next, the reader and “the dude” get a little history lesson, showing us briefly, American Consumer culture and the gender crisis throughout history up to 2000. Contois’s focus for the book really starts here as she shifts the tone of the book away from historical consumerism and into modern marketing techniques directed at gendered products from 2000 to today. She quickly whisks us through the crafting of “the dude” in food media in everything from advertisements to men’s cookbooks and their influence on the masculine American identity.
Of course, what would dude food be without the dude chef? We are taken on a quick tour of the early days of dude chefs like Emeril Lagassi, quoting Food Network president and CEO Erica Gruen as saying, “Sociologically I think the biggest thing we did was Emeril. I think it’s Emeril who made it possible for men to cook.” (39) But it’s the king of Dudetown himself, Guy Fieri, and his rise to the top of dudeness that Contois seems to focus her energy on. Next on the menu is the production of dude foods and how marketers work to masculinize traditionally “feminine” products like diet soda and yogurt. But products aren’t the only thing to be masculinized to gain dude sales, and Contois takes her time explaining the delicacy of the male health and diet industry. For the final course, we are brought back to our classic dude, Guy Fieri, and the value the dude provided the marketing and consumer industries and the ever-changing world that “he” finds himself in as gender fluidity becomes more dominant in our culture.
Contois utilizes a large array of sources to support her arguments throughout the book, pulling information from print media like Men’s Health and Esquire Magazine as well as scholarly articles, books, and online resources. She also uses information and anecdotal evidence from numerous television shows like the Next Food Network Star and Guy Fieri’s Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives. Her method feels as if she utilized genderized products and media within her daily life and then built from there, pulling from sources to support her arguments such as the book Watching What We Eat by Kathleen Collins for analysis of race in Food Network programming.
Contois’s easy writing style seems relatively accessible to most readers. It felt a bit academic even with her use of humor and brands readers may relate with like Dr. Pepper, WeightWatchers, and WhiteClaw. And although I wouldn’t say that anything Contois wrote was overly surprising since I think most people know that gendering products to increase sales and influence our behaviors is a thing in our society, it was interesting to see it laid out in this way. At only 130 pages it’s a quick read and I’m inclined to recommend it to friends or family who might be interested in this subject, but I don’t think it’s something a wider audience would likely read.
dina_s's review against another edition
I found some parts very interesting but at some point I felt like I was reading the same thing for the 4th time. It lost my attention
lilybear3's review
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
I discovered this book on TikTok from Nathan Shuherk (@schizophrenicreads). This book is actually about 130 pages long, the rest of the pages are notes.
I love specific topics like this one and I found all of it to be really interesting. Even after the first chapter, I found myself analyzing everything at the grocery store. This book is written academically and the best way that I can describe that it's not like popular science. It can feel dense if you are not used to reading academic works. Contois looks at advertisements, diet companies, food packaging, and food personality, Guy Fieri, contribute to food culture. Highly recommend if you are interested in marketing, food culture, and/or gender studies.
I love specific topics like this one and I found all of it to be really interesting. Even after the first chapter, I found myself analyzing everything at the grocery store. This book is written academically and the best way that I can describe that it's not like popular science. It can feel dense if you are not used to reading academic works. Contois looks at advertisements, diet companies, food packaging, and food personality, Guy Fieri, contribute to food culture. Highly recommend if you are interested in marketing, food culture, and/or gender studies.