How Do Women Use Their Roles as Family Food Provisioners to Communicate with Their Families - Essay Example

Customer’s Name Customer’s Course Tutor’s Name January 25, 2013 Introduction Food and drink has been seen to be basic necessities for human beings to survive .Through different types of food and drinks, people describe their own culture and establish their own origin. In this way mothers have been seen to be the continuers of a generation or history through their provision of food. Women are faced with different task during their daily activities. They are charged with the responsibility of ensuring that every family member is equipped with basic need and lacks nothing and also has the responsibility of ensuring that any child who passes through their hands have been brought up and developed in the right manner. This makes communication vital in a woman. With communication, children are able to understand their culture and develop from hesitative talk to a constructive conversation. Through mothers, one acquires much knowledge which one would never acquire if they were never brought up by a mother figure (Kulick and Schieffelin, pp.355). Through providing food, they are able to communicate to every generation why certain foods are consumed in their community and at which occasions that they are eaten. Through this, a generation grows with an understanding of cultural values and increased knowledge of their past. It is through women that apprenticeship begins where girls are trained on ways of preparing food and through the art of observation, responsibility is acquired. In all cultures, mothers are highly valued and seen to be the beginning of everything that has to be natured. Take the example of a foetus that has to be taken care of from the time it is conceived in the womb to when it becomes a baby and it is solely dependent on one thing-what the mother is going to provide (Kulick and Schieffelin, pp.355). This therefore means that a woman has a special role she plays in the society and through her main work of being a food provider; she fosters communication out of everyone who is dependent on her. The discussion will define what commensality is and different ways through which communities practice this art and the anthropological view of mealtimes. It will also give different examples of communities and how mothers practice giving food and in the process communicate to their family. The following essay will take a discussion that will give out how these food providers participate in their role of communicating with their families. It will also look at mealtimes as opportunities women take to communicate to their loved ones either directly or indirectly and ways that communication from women as mothers has helped shape the society at large (Izquierdo and Paugh, pp.102). Anthropology study In the anthropology study, participation of taking food and drinking is seen to be a social activity and it is through such occasions where food is seen to be the site where effective communication takes place and these expectations of communication brings in a symbolic and sentimental meaning to food. It is also through taking food that constructive communication takes place and with reference to ethnographic evidence, mothers are seen to create mealtimes to be a platform for children and family members to communicate (Murcott, pp.180). Anthropological studies carried out show that there are different ways in which food is prepared and distributed in different cultures and through this there has to be communication .Food therefore plays a major role in the socialisation process where over generations, there has been dynamism in the promotion of food as an aspect to social cultural life. Mothers as food providers have made mealtimes to be an avenue where there is production of morality, understanding of the world and through all that there is communication with everyone. As a driving force, mothers find themselves with the responsibility of creating a universal occasion where all members while engaging in the activity of eating come up with strategies where the family can engage in talks or build stronger communication (Bourdieu, pp.78). Woman’s role Culturally, a woman is highly held in the society where through her meal provision, there are stronger forces of social construction where positive morals and knowledge is gathered. Through meals, mothers are seen to be cultural objects where communicative practices are adopted through these occasions (Shirk, pp.293). Though different cultures vary in their duration of mealtime and the setting of meals, mothers as providers enhance that there is socialisation .In mealtime socialisation; mothers teach their siblings customs symbols and rules that are acceptable in their culture which ensures that they are brought up in the right moral manner. Through meals, cultural knowledge is passed and different practices are developed which mould children to be responsible as they grow up (Izquierdo and Paugh, pp.172). There are two aspects that are gathered in mealtimes which include apprenticeship and language socialisation. While mother are cooking, there is the aspect of observation and direct participation of the cooking process, though not communicating directly, the people near her tend to keenly master the art of cooking and preparing food which in a way is acquisition of knowledge. This repetitive and keen observation while participating can be called apprenticeship as when the mother is not there, those who have been in her company while providing food will follow her steps. The other aspect which is language socialisation is where children acquire social cultural competence (Garfinkel, pp.89). While taking meals, communication is seen to be the other activity that people enjoy. In such a situation, the less experienced in communicating are given a chance to talk and through such a time, the elder ones especially the mothers take this opportunity to correct and direct the young ones in constructive talking. Through open communication such as prayer and storytelling during meal provision, it makes children and adolescents develop a mind of being critical thinkers and become more social to people in the society. Commensality in different communities Commensality being the practice of sharing food in a family setting defines a social unit where one is accepted hence can be free to communicate what they feel (Feeley-Harnik, pp.111). A family taking the Greek knowledge is known as those who eat together and the heads of the family being the father and mother are identified in such occasions of mealtime. They are both seen as the providers and prepares of food. In the Micronesian island of Fais, sharing of food in a family unit increases the importance of socialising where mothers encourage their children to different households and experience how they prepare consume and offer food. Though allowed to visit, they are warned to only eat where their relatives are (Mead, pp.100). Food is symbolic and represents a lot of meaning in different cultures and it is through food that children and adults have a communal identity. With food such as milk, a child’s development can be positive or negative. Culturally it is the responsibility of a mother to determine which types of food to be given to children and while serving, she has the responsibility of communicating which foods are culturally accepted in their community and the different types of food offered to different ages. Taking the example of Papua in New Guinea, Kaluli mothers have the tendency of avoiding taboo foods to their children as this is seen to be a way of inhibiting the social and language development of a child (Shirk, pp.299). Instead of directly telling the children that the food is prohibited in their culture, they use a technique where they fool children of not eating certain foods. Through that, they act as communicators and make the children responsible and at the same time educate them on the taboos in their culture (Mintz and Du Bois, pp.115). Different foods are offered in different social setups and in the family setup of U.S. and Italy. Dinnertimes are seen as moments of communication wherein both countries, mothers urge their children to eat food because it is nutrition and to encourage them to eat, rewards are presented to those who finish their food first. Italian mothers encourage their children to eat food and communicate to them that out of eating food comes pleasure and engage their children to talk to them about the food they would like cooked. Through this, mothers are able to know the children’s preference. U.S. mothers present their food in dinner tables where they urge their family to gather round in sharing of the meal and through the meals, one is able to catch up on what has been going on and any caution or advice to be given is heard by all(Bourdieu,pp.102). Through this, mothers have a social obligation to communicate to their family on what is lacking in behaviour or what should be improved. Mealtimes being a cultural site mean that mothers come up with appropriate ways and practices of communicating. By this, the mother as the food provider should consider the setting of communication and the norm to be approached in communicating. An example is in the Matsigenka community of the Peruvian Amazon where a norm that is largely practiced is where people remain quiet while eating as this shows table etiquette and thereafter start communicating (LeVine, pp.20). Through communication while preparing food, some communities expect children to remain silent as they conversed. While children are seen to participate less than the adults do, it has been noted that mothers are the major communicators in almost all conversations as seen in Swedish families. In the example of U.S. families mothers are seen to be the main communicators when it comes to conducting of prayers before mealtimes. Through such communication, children are taught to conduct proper prayers. Narration usually happens during meal times as in Jewish American and Israeli families where the mother takes the position to be the narrator. As she narrates to the children, she communicates moral lessons that enhance socialisation skills to be developed by the children (Lave and Wenger, pp.40). Food anthropology therefore plays an important role in the society and it is in times when people have come together that they find themselves socializing. It is therefore the role of the mother to ensure that there are constant times where family members meet to prepare food and take time to communicate to each other. Eating and drinking therefore has a great impact as it is the social point of the family (Katzman and Lee, pp.388). Though mothers prefer short time spent in eating, participation in its serving ensures that strong bonds are created between the one who is giving and the one who is receiving. Through that there is communication. Through food a mother is able to educate the importance of each type of food and how it is made hence that promotes a cultural aspect in the family members. By serving specific cultural food, members in the family learn to appreciate their unique way of life (Capps and Ochs, pp.37). Through such indirect communication, it makes food to be a production of a social body which creates strong bonds with the giver who is the mother. Giving food to the family should be done with a friendly and welcoming way. Through the mother, children are taught to be appreciative and responsible when they grow up. As a way of apprenticeship through observation, Mothers communicate to their children ways that are acceptable in serving food and what is appropriate at different meals. It is also the role of mothers to communicate to older children the need to be dependent on each other. The communication aspect Taking an example where she is breast feeding a small child, there is a strong bond created in the mother being the food provider and the child being the receiver (Lacey, pp.43). Though this is a role only played by women, mothers communicate a sense of care and intimacy through provision of milk. This communicates to other people that they should rely on each other in all times to adapt to the community. Mothers as food providers communicates that the family is bound together and have an identity when they sit down to eat (Laberis, pp78). This also depends on how the mother distributes and cooks her food. In the serving of food, women in their role communicate an aspect of being responsible and having power to control and influence the family. Through mealtimes, it is the role of a woman to educate the young girls their future role of being a care provider and it is their role of being food providers in the future. Through that women communicate to their children the nutritional aspects in food where they become aware of how much answerable and responsible they should be .The aspect of socializing comes in when eating. It has been seen through research carried out that mother’s are more approachable and are friendly when it comes to communication with their children. Though In many cases families eat together, they prefer talking to their mothers as compared to their fathers. This is mainly because most of the times the father I absent during the day and on rare situations is he available (Hughey, pp. 34). This makes the mothers approachable as they are seen to be more trusted and a seen to be affective communicators. When it comes to matters of sexuality, women have an indirect approach and know how to time and the age at which it is appropriate to communicate on such matters. With their nature of beating around the bush and using a lot of symbolic language, children view them to be approachable and easy to communicate with. Theories used Some of the theories used among them are Foucauldian theory that talks about food and morality where he claims that through food there is removal of suffering in the community as it provides cure to all (Thompson, pp.240). Bourdieu’s theory states that a habit is gotten in the childhood experiences that one has and through the experiences, ideas are adopted in the adult life. It also states that the gathering of cultural capital and taste is derived from young women in their aim to expand their cooking skills and this has been gotten by development of new skills as they use this as a source of communication. Through food, children gather a cultural perspective of how life is and other social factors. With this theory that mostly deals with habits, people are seen to copy same attitudes towards something hence acquire a similar identity (Bourdieu, pp.200). Conclusion To make a conclusion, it has been found out that through all cultures, women are seen to be the sole providers through different examples given where a woman has a special role she plays in the society and through her main work of being a food provider; she fosters communication out of everyone who is dependent on her. It is true that women are faced with different task during their daily activities. They are charged with the responsibility of ensuring that every family member is equipped with basic need and lacks nothing and also has the responsibility of ensuring that any child who passes through their hands have been brought up and developed in the right manner and this makes communication vital in a woman...With reference to ethnographic evidence mothers are seen to create mealtimes to be a platform for children and family members to communicate (Murcott, pp.180). Anthropological studies carried out show that there are different ways in which food is prepared and distributed in different cultures and through this there has to be communication .Food therefore plays a major role in the socialisation process where over generations, there has been dynamism in the promotion of food as an aspect to social cultural life. Through meals, cultural knowledge is passed and different practices are developed which mould children to be responsible as they grow up (Izquierdo and Paugh, pp.172). There are two aspects that are gathered in mealtimes which include apprenticeship and language socialisation. While mother are cooking, there is the aspect of observation and direct participation of the cooking process, though not communicating directly, the people near her tend to keenly master the art of cooking and preparing food which in a way is acquisition of knowledge. Through mothers, dinnertimes are seen as moments of communication wherein both countries, mothers urge their children to eat food because it is nutrition and to encourage them to eat, rewards are presented to those who finish their food first. Italian mothers encourage their children to eat food and communicate to them that out of eating food comes pleasure and engage their children to talk to them about the food they would like cooked. Through this, mothers are able to know the children’s preference. U.S. mothers present their food in dinner tables where they urge their family to gather round in sharing of the meal and through the meals, one is able to catch up on what has been going on and any caution or advice to be given is heard by all. Examples of how different mothers serve their food through communication has been presented and commensality being the practice of sharing food in a family setting has been defined to be a social unit where one is accepted hence can be free to communicate what they feel (Feeley-Harnik, pp.111). A family taking the Greek knowledge is known as those who eat together and the heads of the family being the father and mother are identified in such occasions of mealtime. They are both seen as the providers and prepares of food. In the Micronesian island of Fais, sharing of food in a family unit increases the importance of socialising where mothers encourage their children to different households and experience how they prepare consume and offer food. Though allowed to visit, they are warned to only eat where their relatives are (Mead, pp.100). Food is symbolic and represents a lot of meaning in different cultures and it is through food that children and adults have a communal identity. The essay has concluded by stating that through mealtimes, it is the role of a woman to educate the young girls their future role of being a care provider and it is their role of being food providers in the future. Through that women communicate to their children the nutritional aspects in food where they become aware of how much answerable and responsible they should be .The aspect of socializing comes in when eating and this goes without saying that women play an important role in their work as food providers where through this, they act as communicators of the family and society at large. Throughout the discussion, it has been found out that women have a creative aspect that makes them able to communicate to the family and through the art of making mealtimes as a time to come together, both the elderly and the young have an opportunity of communicating and learning from each other. References Bourdieu, Pierre. The logic of practice (R. Nice, Trans.). Palo Alto, CA: Stanford University Press. (1990b). Print. Bourdieu, Pierre. In other words: Essays towards a reflexive sociology (M. Adamson, Trans.). Palo Alto, CA: Stanford University Press. (1990a).Print. Bourdieu, Pierre. 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