Martha's food: Whiteness of a certain kind
2001; American studies; Volume: 42; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês
ISSN
2153-6856
Autores Tópico(s)Culinary Culture and Tourism
ResumoFood sits at the base of the Martha Stewart empire. While her corporation, Martha Stewart, Omnimedia, Inc.—as its name implies—encompasses every aspect of homekeeping through virtually every medium, Stewart first entered the realm of professional domesticity as a private caterer. Ever since her foray (some would say invasion) into Americans' homes beginning with the 1982 publication of her book, Entertaining, people have held strong opinions about Martha Stewart. While Stewart has been called various derisive names—Betty Crocker from hell, the Uberhausfrau, the Ideological Stewart Apparatus, the anti-Julia—she has also achieved cult status among many of her worshipful followers. Holding an appeal that transcends class, and even gender and race to some extent, Martha is a fascinating barometer of American culture at the turn of the twentieth century, and has done much to influence food in the United States in a variety of ways. In this assessment of Martha Stewart I focus on food mainly as it appears in her print publications, essentially arguing that the extraordinarily polished appearance of Martha Stewart (MS) food belies its complexity of meaning. While MS food is white, it is a class-specific whiteness that transcends ethnicity and becomes accessible by cultivation rather than heritage. As such, MS food is based upon an invented artisan ethos only fully realized by those who have the luxury to perform the work, lending itself to elaborate conspicuous consump-
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