Ilari Sani sent in this vintage ad encouraging Americans to eat vegetables and “Toughen Up.” Today salad is definitely considered “girl food,” and there are plenty of vintage examples in which meat was connected with strength and toughness (and, more generally, masculinity; see below). This ad tries to contest that idea. I wonder if the effort was successful in its day, or if it fell flat alongside the meat = real food narrative.
For vintage examples of meat being connected to masculinity, see here and here. For contemporary examples, see here and here.
Found at Vintage Ads.
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Lisa Wade is a professor of sociology at Occidental College. You can follow her on Twitter and Facebook.
Comments 22
Deaf Indian Muslim Anarchist ! — November 7, 2009
I wasn't aware that salads today are considered "girly" food, but I can see what you mean.
ever since I started reading SocioImages, it's unbelievable how almost EVERYTHING out there is gendered.
Ed — November 7, 2009
Salads are not girl food. Outside of perhaps rural area high school football players in the process of groping for ideas about what manhood is to them, no one that I have ever encountered would take that position and certainly no one that I know would change their behavior to abide the 'gendered' nature of salads. You're giving credence and support to a very small group of people with a silly idea by holding it up as some kind of cultural baseline.
Sabriel — November 7, 2009
I'm Popeye the sailor man,
I'm Popeye the sailor man,
I'm strong to the finich,
'Cause I eats me spinach.
I'm Popeye the sailor man!
rachel — November 7, 2009
maybe it means that Americans need to "toughen up" and eat vegetables? like, "suck it up" and eat the vegetables, even though it's not fun?
Andrew — November 9, 2009
Sabriel - I was thinking of Popeye when I saw this too!
I half-agree with the idea of salad being gendered feminine. When it comes to restaurant behavior, I find that there's no gender association with the act of eating a salad as a starter or side. However, choosing salad as a main course is regarded in Northern Europe and much of North America as a feminine behavior.
There's a cultural and an agricultural component to this. The former, obviously, is the idea that women are more concerned about their appearance, worried about gaining weight, and somewhat masochistic in their pursuit of beauty compared to men. Surely, only a person on a diet would eat a salad when they could have a bowl of pasta or a steak! The latter is more subtle - I find that in more mediterranean or tropical climates, where more vegetables are fresh and appealing year-round, salads are more universally favored.
In other words - if you live in a place where salad is always really, really nice and the weather is warm (California, Israel, Vietnam...) there's no symbolism attached to making it a nice refreshing meal meal. If you live in the cabbage belt, it means sacrificing pleasure for vanity. And we only expect women to do that.
becky — November 9, 2009
I've had more than one waiter attempt to give me the salad my husband ordered.
Smite Me! » Blog Archive » links for 2009-11-19 — November 19, 2009
[...] n Hygrade Seed Company Says Vegetables Make You Tough and Strong » Sociological Images [...]
V for Vegan: easyVegan.info » Blog Archive » Intersectionality ‘Round the Interwebs, No. 13: Boobs, bacon & bigotry. — December 18, 2009
[...] Lisa @ Sociological Images: Hygrade Seed Company Says Vegetables Make You Tough and Strong [...]
Michael Thibeau — March 13, 2021
Hello, my name is Michael Thibeau and while going through my inherited seed collection I came upon this packet of lettuce seeds. I was curious as to how I may be able to find the date these where made available to the public for sale. If you can give any information to the diction I may search I would greatly appreciate it. Please see photo of packet. Thank you,
Michael
Michael Thibeau — March 13, 2021
Here is the front view.