Is Paula Deen getting more than her share of flak?

Paula Deen has Type 2 diabetes. (Hands up if you found this revelation shocking. Thaaaaat’s what we thought.) Not surprisingly, there has been a flurry of media coverage, most of it criticizing Deen for continuing to feature/promote less than healthy food for three years before announcing her diagnosis earlier this week—now that she’s a spokesperson for a diabetes program.

But of the media flurry, we think this little snowflake by John Birdsall is worth pondering. Birdsall asks whether social class and gender might not be playing a role in the way some people (particularly Anthony Bourdain) are responding to Deen’s confession:

“Perhaps our notions of health and excess are rooted in class. Deen, we assume, speaks to a down-market audience who need to be lectured about nutrition and willpower. Bourdain speaks to the well-heeled traveler for whom a foie gras hot dog is an occasional indulgence, not a moral failing. Right? Or is it somehow acceptable for men to engage in extreme eating, while women have an obligation to show restraint?”

For more on the connections between gender, class, and food (particularly as they relate to body image), check out Susan Bordo’s Unbearable Weight.

(Source: Flickr / bunchofpants)