The recent TikTok trend of showing off perfectly organized and styled home pantries is rooted in a history of classist, racist and sexist social structures, according to one Chicago professor.
Through her research at Loyola University, Associate Professor of Marketing Jenna Drenten noticed a recent uptick in what she calls “pantry porn,” a plethora of social media videos where women show off their fully stocked kitchen and methodically organized home supplies.
While minimalist designs used to represent an anti-consumption mindset of using less and buying less, the “new minimalism,” according to Drenten, means “more is more,” so long as it is not dirty or cluttered.
In her essay published in Conversation on Tuesday, Drenton writes:
Storing spices in coordinated glass jars and color coordinating dozens of sprinkles containers may seem trivial. But tidiness is tangled up with status, and messiness is loaded with assumptions about personal responsibility and respectability.
Cleanliness has historically been used as a cultural gatekeeping mechanism to reinforce status distinctions based on a vague understanding of “niceness”: nice people, with nice yards, in nice houses, make for nice neighborhoods.
What lies beneath the surface of this anti-messiness, pro-niceness stance is a history of classist, racist and sexist social structures. In my research, influencers who produce pantry porn are predominantly white women who demonstrate what it looks like to maintain a “nice” home by creating a new status symbol: the perfectly organized, fully stocked pantry.
Sharing a link to her bizarre essay, Drenton tweeted:
What’s behind all of those “restock, refill, reset” videos on TikTok & IG reels? My latest article for @ConversationUS discusses my research on “pantry porn” & how the perfectly organized kitchen has become a new status symbol.
What’s behind all of those “restock, refill, reset” videos on TikTok & IG reels?
My latest article for @ConversationUS discusses my research on “pantry porn” & how the perfectly organized kitchen has become a new status symbol.https://t.co/cmARt2ipyk
— Jenna Drenten, PhD (@jennadrenten) March 14, 2023
“Pantry porn is a mashup of infotainment, how-to, lifestyle content and ASMR, a form of sound-driven content intended to relax viewers. Influencers film themselves shopping for supplies, prepping food, refilling containers, and organizing their pantries.” https://t.co/cmARt2ipyk pic.twitter.com/lB5eVGzyjT
— Jenna Drenten, PhD (@jennadrenten) March 14, 2023
Loyola professor claims organized pantries are rooted in ‘racist and sexist’ social structures https://t.co/dglo0q9tno
— Fox News (@FoxNews) March 16, 2023
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