ABSTRACT
There was a television commercial, airing in 2001, showing a man standing in the middle of a ladies’ clothing store, awkwardly holding a purse for his wife while she goes to try on clothes. The voiceover says, “At least you can eat like a man.” This hot dog commercial illustrates that men and women live in different “cultures.” In the universe defined by this commercial-indeed, in most realms of the symbolic universe of television-women are concerned with clothes and carry purses, while men eat hot dogs and would rather not even touch a purse. The not-soimplicit message is that it is demeaning for a “real” man to do a female thing like hold a purse. In 30 seconds the advertiser has reminded us of the differences between men and women in terms of behavior, including eating, as well as status.
