The Urbanyst Posted July 18, 2017 Share Posted July 18, 2017 Pies, cookies, cupcakes, ice cream, desserts, etc. Why are women as a group so much into sweet desserts than men? And every time you go to a bakery or a place that sells ice cream, desserts, cupcakes, etc. its always young women working there and most of the customers are women. What is the deal with that? Link to post Share on other sites
tetrahedral Posted July 18, 2017 Share Posted July 18, 2017 Right? I swear, never met a girl who doesn't like chocolate infinitely more than I do. I think it's a cultural thing, not a biological one. Girls like to be "bad", and eating chocolate is "bad". Meanwhile, men haven't societally conditioned to get off psychologically from eating chocolate. Men are societally conditioned to crave other things - whiskey, red meat. I'd say whiskey consumption in particular is strongly driven by men getting off psychologically on it, rather than the product itself. One theory I've heard before, is that women actually are biologically predisposed to crave chocolate, because of menstruation-related reasons. But if you do a little background research, it hasn't stood up to controlled scrutiny. Here's a PubMed link if you're interested: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21440592 Link to post Share on other sites
somanymistakes Posted July 18, 2017 Share Posted July 18, 2017 Pies, cookies, cupcakes, ice cream, desserts, etc. Why are women as a group so much into sweet desserts than men? And every time you go to a bakery or a place that sells ice cream, desserts, cupcakes, etc. its always young women working there and most of the customers are women. What is the deal with that? Cultural expectations. It's constantly pressed as a girly thing, therefore the average man feels a little uncomfortable and steers clear. I mean, it's possible that women are more prone to sweet cravings than men are. But for the most part, humans are humans, we're not that different. It's our cultural background that tries really hard to push steaks as being MANLY and yoghurt as being Ladylike. Same for sweets. Many men will only admit to eating sweets that they think are sufficiently masculine. Salted licorice. Chocolate-covered bacon. Super-spicy or super-sour. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
GunslingerRoland Posted July 18, 2017 Share Posted July 18, 2017 While I will say that I've known more men that don't eat sweets at all than women, it's still a minority. I know working in IT which is a mostly man dominated field, sweet treats that are brought in will be devoured fast. Link to post Share on other sites
preraph Posted July 18, 2017 Share Posted July 18, 2017 Never seen a man turn down a chocolate chip cookie or ice cream. My dad ate ice cream every day of his life and lived to be a skinny 93. At one point he lived on ice cream and alcohol. 8 Link to post Share on other sites
SammySammy Posted July 18, 2017 Share Posted July 18, 2017 I like chocolate. Milk chocolate or dark chocolate, but I don't like chocolate flavored things. Chocolate ice cream, chocolate milk, chocolate cake, chocolate cookies, and so forth. Don't know why that is, but if it's not some form of ... just chocolate ... I'll turn it down all day. Chocolate bars, Hershey's kisses, chocolate covered cherries, and things like that were my weakness. I had a difficult time time cutting those out of my diet when I started eliminating added sugar. As far as sweets go, could the connection between sugar and dopamine be the reason so many people love sweets? That it creates an instant rush of pleasurable sensations and can be addictive? Link to post Share on other sites
Cookiesandough Posted July 18, 2017 Share Posted July 18, 2017 They are in the bakery getting them for their dad's/brothers/so's. My dad eats 90% of the sweets in my parents house 2 Link to post Share on other sites
Shanex Posted July 18, 2017 Share Posted July 18, 2017 That's a curious question, not saying it's dumb because I have made the same observation but... I too prefer salt over sweet, assuming you too, OP. But why wouldn't some or many men love sugary stuff too? My father basically stops his dinner with cheese, and hardly care for desserts, and I have inherited this trait, contrary to my mother. About the ladies... generally speaking they still choose sweet during hot summer afternoon, while I'll rather enjoy a beer. I don't know really what's the deal with that or what answer you are expecting... Link to post Share on other sites
basil67 Posted July 18, 2017 Share Posted July 18, 2017 I will usually choose savory over sweet for dessert. I love a good cheese platter, and don't you dare skimp on the blue cheese. I don't really like cake unless it's got a citrus base. Meanwhile my husband loves sweets. I had to fight him about giving our kids sweet stuff frequently. I lost the battle and our daughter ended up getting root canal at the age of 14! She's now chosen to wean herself off having too much sugar as she doesn't want to wreck her teeth any further. Edited to add: my father in law was a pastry chef and a huge maker of desserts. Link to post Share on other sites
basil67 Posted July 18, 2017 Share Posted July 18, 2017 Come to think of it, my daughter's after school job is working the front counter of a bakery. They do a lot of sandwich bread, savory bread, scones and tea-cakes. (Does tea-cake translate?) The front counter is all female, but the pastry chefs are all male. Who you see at the front may not reflect the whole work force. The customers are mostly women, but that's because so many of us are also mothers and buying items for school lunchboxes and dinners. Link to post Share on other sites
RecentChange Posted July 18, 2017 Share Posted July 18, 2017 Hehehe it's my husband who is always trying to get us to stop by the ice cream sandwich shop (noooooo! I don't need that!). I am a chocolate fiend though. Literally can't keep it in the house because I will be stealing bites till it's gone. I don't care about cakes or ice cream etc... But chocolate? Gooooood quality chocolate, maybe with a glass of red wine 1 Link to post Share on other sites
alphamale Posted July 18, 2017 Share Posted July 18, 2017 Pies, cookies, cupcakes, ice cream, desserts, etc. Why are women as a group so much into sweet desserts than men? And every time you go to a bakery or a place that sells ice cream, desserts, cupcakes, etc. its always young women working there and most of the customers are women. What is the deal with that? you forgot about all the sweet alcoholic drinks they consume. I don't know why they collectively have a sweet tooth. maybe it's hormonal? Link to post Share on other sites
lucy_in_disguise Posted July 19, 2017 Share Posted July 19, 2017 I'm not a huge fan of sweets and between my parents it is my dad who has the sweet tooth. But rightly or not- I do also tend to think of women as the ones who love sweets more. I wonder if it is a body composition thing. Men have more muscle. Maybe that means men crave a higher proportion of protein in their diet, while women need more carbs? Link to post Share on other sites
tetrahedral Posted July 19, 2017 Share Posted July 19, 2017 I'm not a huge fan of sweets and between my parents it is my dad who has the sweet tooth. But rightly or not- I do also tend to think of women as the ones who love sweets more. I wonder if it is a body composition thing. Men have more muscle. Maybe that means men crave a higher proportion of protein in their diet, while women need more carbs? Men and women in the same BMI range demand approximately similar amounts of protein. The difference in observed consumption between men and women is just men being larger than women. Men and women's diets really aren't fundamentally different. Women need to make up iron they lose while menstruating. But both in terms of exercise and nutrition, the idea of having a version for men and a version for women is mostly branding bull****. Men eat more meat (particularly bacon) because they're societally programmed to. There's 68g protein in a cup of soybeans. I don't know any dudes who drool over soybeans. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Andy_K Posted July 19, 2017 Share Posted July 19, 2017 Quantity of food consumed plays a role... women would often rather have a small but very sweet treat whereas men prefer to stuff themselves till they're full. Most people can't easily gorge on the really sweet stuff often without feeling a bit sickly, so men will often prefer foods you can consume a lot of, like pizza or steak. 2 Link to post Share on other sites
mikeylo Posted July 19, 2017 Share Posted July 19, 2017 My son and I eat more sweet stuff than my wife does Link to post Share on other sites
knabe Posted July 19, 2017 Share Posted July 19, 2017 Hmmm...I wonder if it's an age thing? I don't care as much for sweets as I used to when I was younger. Which is good because my metabolism and thyroid aren't what they used to be either! I've heard there IS a hormonal component to the chocolate thing, though I am not sure if it is true. A bag of chips laying around is more of a temptation to me than a bag of cookies. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
thefooloftheyear Posted July 19, 2017 Share Posted July 19, 2017 Im not much for cakes and pies...And ice cream?? Its good but makes me but ill kill a box of GS cookies in one shot and not blink an eye..Those caramel things and the thin mints..Choc chip?? .. and Zeppoli???? yep.... I'd still rather have a bag of greasy wings or a pizza over cookies and sweets.. I never knew what the deal was with dark chocolate and a woman's period..inform us, ladies...seems to be a trend there.. But yeah...Women do like sweets, because they are sweet.... TFY Link to post Share on other sites
knabe Posted July 19, 2017 Share Posted July 19, 2017 Dark chocolate has caffeine for one, which dilates the blood vessels and relieves the tension on the crampy areas. Also, it has more serotonin (or something similar), so it helps with moods. Plus, there is something in it that helps with the fatigue (maybe the caffeine again?) I don't really like dark chocolate. My favorite candy bar is a Zero 1 Link to post Share on other sites
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