33 Percent Of Women Admit To Going On Dates For The Free Food
Aziz Ansari's Master of None popularized the term "foodie call," but the concept of going on a date with someone for mostly gastrological purposes has pretty much always been a thing. So a recent study claiming 23 to 33 percent of surveyed straight women have foodie called, it didn't come as a huge surprise. But the supposed reasoning behind this phenomenon? Well, I have thoughts...
In this study, researchers at Azuza Pacific University and University of California, Merced confirmed their hypotheses that foodie calls are a) "most prevalent among women who scored high in the dark triad" and b) foodie calls are common among women "who espoused more traditional gender roles." That's a lot to digest (😉). Let's break it down.
First, let's talk about this dark triad thing. If you missed Pscyh 101, I hate to break it to you but the concept is as terrible as it sounds. Composed of three personality traits (Machiavellianism, Narcissism, and Psychopathy), the dark triad pretty much makes for a trash human being. Those who exhibit these traits, "tend to manipulate and deceive others," "lack remorse," and are "self-focused, entitled, [and] disinterested." Hold up. So the conclusion here is essentially that women who decide to foodie call are bad people? Um...is it just me or does that sound a little oversimplified?
What about the fact that we are now living in the age of dating apps? Although many of us don't sign up for these apps with the intention of playing a game, according to NYU Social Psychologist Adam Alter (per Refinery 29), "a lot of the apps we use now have elements of that built in" regardless. And while that mentality may be problematic in and of itself, it still adds a layer to the foodie calling that the study seems to completely disregard.
Ok, so what about those traditional gender roles? That sounds more promising and fair right? Well, sort of. While the idea that women who tend to think that a man should always pay for a meal are more likely to engage in foodie calling makes a bit more sense, the study completely fails to consider why women feel that pressure to do so in the the first place. Are we saying that these women just pulled these ideas out of thin air? Because it kind of feels like it...
Let me be clear. This is not all to say that foodie calling isn't misleading and unfair. It is. But maybe researching and trying to fix social expectations for both men and women is a better approach. Just a thought.
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