Devil's Food: Dessert in American Culture

Authors

Jessica Swain, St. Mary's College of Maryland

Abstract

This paper examines the association between sweets, and ideas of temptation, sin, and self-indulgence. A symbolic analysis of printed advertisements for sweets provides evidence to support the concept of food morality, and the relationship between food and sex. Through the deliberate use of religious metaphor and sexual imagery, these advertisements reflect a cultural conflict between body image and health, and the relentless pursuit of that which we cannot have.

Relational Format

jounral

Recommended Citation

Swain, Jessica (1998) "Devil's Food: Dessert in American Culture," Southern Anthropologist: Vol. 25: No. 1, Article 5.
Available at: https://egrove.olemiss.edu/southern_anthropologist/vol25/iss1/5