O QUE SE “COME”?

O ESTREITO ELO ENTRE ALIMENTAÇÃO E SEXUALIDADE NA ANTROPOLOGIA DO BRASIL

Abstract

In Brazilian Portuguese, the verb “to eat” is polysemic. It refers both to the ingestion of food – meaning to taste and feel pleasure in good recipes and dishes – as well as the sexual act. “Eating” means more than answering the physiological need to eat food. The verb is “filled” with other meanings, intentions, behaviors, pleasures, affections, desires, and power. This paper proposes some considerations about the meanings of food and its links to sexuality, in which gender relationships are a consequence of such considerations. Human relationships and organizations materialize themselves in food and sexuality. Both have an erotic language. From a theological perspective, the idea of commensality, the pleasure brought by food and sex can express distinct and opposed considerations. Many times, “eating” is considered a sin, because it is a corporal pleasure, resulting from giving in to material passions. By means of critical reading we have discovered that, despite the censorship of the act of eating, the Christian tradition was born from the idea of eating together (commensality), in which Christ itself, God made flesh, is offered to His followers as food. These considerations can reveal the hidden meanings of eating, or even question which places, definitions and rules determine what is eaten and how people should eat nowadays.