Co-constructing the Fashionable Eater
This chapter, which focuses on 83 “throwback Thursday” (#tbt) posts from the @nytfood account, departs slightly from the discourse of elite authenticity. Instead, Mapes identifies three orders of elitist stancetaking which collectively paint the decades-old food trends pictured in the #tbt posts as derisible and inferior—in direct contrast with “progress”-oriented notions of sustainability or simplicity in contemporary food discourse. While much of this work is institutionally produced, @nytfood Instagram followers are also complicit in elitist stance acts. In their various comments, participants demonstrate how putatively inclusive, democratic digital platforms can be spaces of/for social hierarchy, and how the elitist performances of #tbt produce privileged standards of good taste and fashionable eating.