“Eat like a man”. A social constructionist analysis of the role of food in men’s lives

• A variety of tensions exist suggesting a complex reflexivity to food life experiences. • Personal, role and group identities enacted by men frame situated food choices. • Some men concede control to their partners throughout their food experiences. • Men attempt to downplay their pleasures from meals as hegemonically rationalised. • Interventions need to take account of socio-cultural context and role identity. This paper adopts a social constructionist approach to investigate the role of food in the production of identities and social experiences for men. With recognition that relational and experiential processes are central to men’s lives, the purpose of the paper is to inductively explore the personal and interpersonal complexities of this group’s food related behaviours. Empirical data were collected through a series of semi-structured interviews with 33 men, comprising of 4 age groups, (18–35, 36–54, 55–64, and 65+ years). Regardless of age, an analysis and interpretation yielded three emergent themes, food as a component of: (1) role-play; (2) contextual interactions, (3) and the management of a functional vs. hedonic dialectic. Across these themes various tensions and contradictions emerged suggesting a complex reflexivity to male food life experiences. Relational issues emerged such as the observation that some men concede control to their partners throughout their food experiences. Overall, our men’s consumption practices construct a specific socio-cultural articulation of masculine roles whereby their internal paradoxes are leveraged as a means to produce desirable experiences and self-identifications.