<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<p><italic>My Big Fat Greek Wedding</italic> (2002) captures the complex life of a Greek-American family and the struggles of the main protagonist, Toula Portokalos, to reconcile her own desires as a second-generation immigrant with those of her ethnic parents, especially in terms of gender roles and expectations. In the movie, Toula's journey towards self-discovery as a confident woman is peppered with food references, as food represents an essential “ingredient” that brings and holds the family together. Therefore, this essay sets out to examine how food practices and choices are both a reflection of ethnic identity and of conflicting generational beliefs about gender roles and expectations in the traditional family portrayed in <italic>My Big Fat Greek Wedding</italic>.</p>
</abstract>

My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002) captures the complex life of a Greek-American family and the struggles of the main protagonist, Toula Portokalos, to reconcile her own desires as a second-generation immigrant with those of her ethnic parents, especially in terms of gender roles and expectations. In the movie, Toula's journey towards self-discovery as a confident woman is peppered with food references, as food represents an essential “ingredient” that brings and holds the family together. Therefore, this essay sets out to examine how food practices and choices are both a reflection of ethnic identity and of conflicting generational beliefs about gender roles and expectations in the traditional family portrayed in My Big Fat Greek Wedding.

“Nice Greek Girls Are Supposed to Marry Greek Boys … and Feed Everyone”: Food, Gender, and Ethnicity in <italic>My Big Fat Greek Wedding</italic> (2002)

East-West Cultural Passage

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

“Nice Greek Girls Are Supposed to Marry Greek Boys … and Feed Everyone”: Food, Gender, and Ethnicity in  (2002)

My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002) captures the complex life of a Greek-American family and the struggles of the main protagonist, Toula Portokalos, to reconcile...

“Nice Greek Girls Are Supposed to Marry Greek Boys … and Feed Everyone”: Food, Gender, and Ethnicity in My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002)

Publié en ligne: 21 janv. 2022

Pages: 71 - 91

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/ewcp-2021-0005

Mots clés
Greek American, food, ethnic culture, gender, first- and second-generation immigrants

© 2021 Anca-Luminiţa Iancu, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

“Nice Greek Girls Are Supposed to Marry Greek Boys … and Feed Everyone”: Food, Gender, and Ethnicity in My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002)

Publié en ligne: 21 janv. 2022

Pages: 71 - 91

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/ewcp-2021-0005

Mots clésGreek American, food, ethnic culture, gender, first- and second-generation immigrants

© 2021 Anca-Luminiţa Iancu, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Mots clés
Greek American, food, ethnic culture, gender, first- and second-generation immigrants