gender, dining and gracious gatherings

At the Blog Indiana conference, I met Anna Lisa Gross who writes a great blog that examines popular culture through a feminist lens. She recently added another blog to her online roster, Hospitality in the Coming Age, which highlights local and inclusive cooking and sharing. She's exploring one of my favorite topics - ensuring that each person at your table is welcomed and included - and doing a lovely job.

illustration by Tony Cenicola for New York Times

A related topic, gender equity in fine dining, is explored in an interesting piece at the New York Times, Old Gender Roles with Your Dinner?. Beyond dissecting the impact of gender at a smattering of New York restaurants, the article also explores what seem to me to be some outdated notions of allegedly disparate needs and expectations of men and women in restaurants.

I'd love to hear your reactions... When Mario Batali says “Women are looking for somewhere comfortable. Men are looking for somewhere to show off," is he correct? What about the claim that women are scared to eat meat when it sounds like an animal ("suckling pig") but happy to dine on less obvious allusions to the animal of origin (chorizo)?