Georgia State University ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University English Dissertations Department of English 6-9-2006 The Sexual Politics of Meat Substitutes Gregory James Flail Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/english_diss Part of the English Language and Literature Commons Recommended Citation Flail, Gregory James, "The Sexual Politics of Meat Substitutes." Dissertation, Georgia State University, 2006. https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/english_diss/9 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Department of English at ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University. It has been accepted for inclusion in English Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. THE SEXUAL POLITICS OF MEAT SUBSTITUTES by GREGORY JAMES FLAIL Under the Direction of George Pullman Food choice has intrigued generations of scholars seeking insight into the rituals that characterize the cultural and sub-cultural values of various nations and eras. Among the more recent cultural phenomena to influence theories about the body is food choice. Perhaps there is no argumentative issue more pervasive than that of food choice, because everyone must eat. The morsels that people consume are chosen as often as not for their symbolic value. A review of the literature of dietary discourse and representation reveals a gap where studies of vegetarian and vegan identity, mass media, and mass markets are concerned. This dissertation utilizes theories of representation, cultural studies, and discourse analysis to uncover culturally specific attitudes in the marketing of food with regard to vegetable-based diets, the foods that they consist of, and the people who eat them.