Can Women Be Falstaffian?

SNAX Everywhere

In food culture, when a man eats and drinks joyously and excessively, he often gets referred to as “Falstaffian,” that Shakespearean character who is fat, jolly, and debauched. But do women, as eaters, get to be Falstaffian? Usually jolly and debauched are reserved for men. Women who love to eat and drink with gusto are just fat. We decided to talk about it. Let’s consider Falstaff’s own words: “If sack and sugar be a fault, God help the wicked! If to be old and merry be a sin, then many an old host that I know is damned: If to be fat be to be hated, then … banish plump Jack, and banish all the world.”