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and divergences without obedience to a normative telos of definitional closure” (Butler 16).
Butler’s vision of a coalitional gender identity undermines the binary gender system inherent in any patriarchal and heterosexist culture that functions to preserve the authority of heterosexual males while limiting the power and autonomy of anyone who is not biologically male and heterosexual. In order to preserve the status quo, the patriarchy requires that males and females perform culturally coded behaviors that signify their predetermined gender identities. As Allan G. Johnson notes, “[a]s the patriarchal story goes, women are essentially feminine and men are essentially masculine, and so long as each stays in their own designated territory, life goes on as it’s supposed to” (61). Traditionally, a man’s territory allows for unlimited and unquestioned food consumption whereas a woman’s limits hers and defines her, first and foremost, as a food preparer for her husband and children. In the literature, the real gender trouble begins when a girl, such the nine-year-old protagonist Carmolina in Tina De Rosa’s novel Paper Fish, or a woman, such as Yolanda in How the García Girls Lost Their Accents, attempts to act as a self-indulgent food consumer and in so doing undermines her culturally prescribed gender role. Unlike a male food preparer, who does not assume a position of power as he performs this domestic and thus traditionally feminine task, a female food consumer works to elevate her status within the patriarchal culture and potentially displaces a male counterpart, removing him from his position of power.
To avoid irreversible gender trouble when they trespass into forbidden territories, male preparers and female consumers must follow strict cultural rules regarding acts of cooking and eating. As Sherrie A. Inness notes, “if men choose to cook, they must make sure that their masculinity is not diminished” by preparing “foods that are associated with masculinity and manliness—most importantly, meat”—through “manly” cooking methods such as outdoor grilling (Dinner Roles 18). Conversely, when “proper” women overindulge, often alone and in secret, they should consume “dainty,” “ornate,” and decorative foods, such as candy and sweets (Dinner Roles 55–56). Likewise, Beardsworth and Keil explain