Dining Women: Posture, Sex, and Status
Dining Women: Posture, Sex, and Status
This chapter examines the historical and ideological aspects of women's dining. The scholarship reveals that, during early periods, women sat to dine while men reclined; whereas “now,” women too recline to dine, just as men do—their posture must therefore have changed at some point. On the other hand, by linking the alleged shift in women's posture to overall moral decline, these studies reveal that the distinction between the two postures has ideological implications. That is, dining posture is a locus where practice, gender, and ethics intersect. The chapter suggests that the seated posture functioned pragmatically, placing women under male scrutiny and control. Moreover, whatever the vagaries of actual social practice, the seated posture for women remained at all times the “strict protocol,” even in the Imperial period.
Keywords: women's dining, posture, moral decline, historical aspects, ideological aspects, male scrutiny, social practice, Imperial period
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