Hines - Women as desserts

Hines 1994

semantic fields and gender

a deep dive into 'Woman as Desserts' By Eden Longange

Hines' Work

• Hines focussed on the semantic fields of women and her most famous and analysed study was titled 'Woman as Desserts'
• This was part of a larger investigation as she also found semantic fields which described women as :

- Small Animals ( e.g Chick , filly , fox - Femme Fatales ( Sirens , Tigress's and Ramps) *This slide show will mainly focus on Hines' ' Woman as Desserts' Findings- a summary of a 18 page article- Yes i read it all

The ultimate dessert terms

Piece of) cake,

Cupcake

Poundcake

Hines devised a collection of dessert terms which were associated with women and analysed thier origins. a few examples are:

Cheesecake

Pumpkin (pie , tart)

Cookie

Adidtional Findings

Women as dessserts metaphors belittles women of status into objects

A reason for choosing desserts is so women can be sold brought , elaborately decorated and admired for their appearance. e'g frosting . a term used for beauty padgent makeup

Women were not just desserts but slices

Piece of pie, piece of cake, or even a slice of heaven ( refering to sexual intercourse )

The Evolution of women as desserts

How did we get here?

Metaphors began with asscociating humans overall as objects e.g Eyes are the window to the soul - William Shakespare

Rebaking the Cake

Cobination of all these things leads to women as desserts e.g cheesecake and tarts

These ungendered metaphors collided with the cultural stereotype that women are 'sweet' E.g The Nursery Rhyme ' What are little girls made of sugar spice and everything nice -1820

Metaphors then commonly portrayed achieving a desired object as something to eat eg She tasted victory

Analysing some examples

Here's where I got angry

Tart

This sense coexisted well into the twentieth century in Liverpudlian, Australian, and New Zealand dialects of English alongside its usual U. S. meaning, 'prostitute' Its most recent meaning refers to a promiscuous woman

Defined as a term of approval applied by the town londoner towards a young women of whom affection is felt. This is not gennerally employed by the young men unless the female is at 'her best'

Pie

Jane Mills on 'Cherry Pie' -In the second half of the 19th century 'cherry' and 'cherry pie' began to be used colloquially for an attractive young woman. By the mid-20th century 'cherry pie' began to mean something easily obtainable. This was influeneced by the notion that a young woman who was sexually promiscuous was a ripe fruit ready for picking/ eating (For male consumption)

A woman considered sexually. From the expression "as easy as pie," also reinforced by 'nice piece of pie,' which is euphemistic for 'nice piece of ass.'

Fruits

Extensions include 'cherry orchard ' (girls' dormitory), 'cherry picker' (man who desires young girls),

There are numerous fruit terms for breasts, such as apples, casabas, cantaloupes, grapefruits, lemons (especially used of small breasts), melons, and watermelons (large breasts),all of which accentuate the ripe, fresh, juicy quality of desirable women (compared a 'wrinkled old prune' a woman past her sexual prime)

Why Should we care?

Thats a good Question..

The way we think

• Hines’s research confirms that a metaphor is not only a way of talking, but also a way of thinking and acting.
• She States - "Awareness of the underlying cognitive metaphors ,by which thought and language are coconstructed, at least brings this "metaphoric derogation of women" to a conscious level, an essential starting point if we are ever to begin rebaking the pie"
• Whay do you think? Shall we start Rebaking the Pie?

Thanks!

Thanks!