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Food Porn: The Conspicuous Consumption of Food in the Age of Digital Reproduction

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Food, Media and Contemporary Culture

Abstract

If the casserole is missionary style, food porn takes its devotees into the foodie Kama Sutra. It glistens. It drips. It uses props. It is both lusty and intimate. For those who partake, it is an obsession. But just what is ‘food porn’ anyway? Here it is, not for the faint of heart: everything you’ve ever wanted to know about food porn but were afraid to ask. Or at least a few things of interest on the subject of food porn as a cultural object, situated within the twin forces of conspicuous consumption online and food as an art form in the age of digital reproduction. In the pursuit of analysing the visual aesthetic of food porn, this essay discusses everything from the pornographic gaze to the latent sensuality of food and the sexual symbolism of food presentation (Figure 13.1).

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© 2016 Erin Metz McDonnell

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McDonnell, E.M. (2016). Food Porn: The Conspicuous Consumption of Food in the Age of Digital Reproduction. In: Bradley, P. (eds) Food, Media and Contemporary Culture. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137463234_14

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