Hummus masculinity in Israel

Adopted from the Palestinian Arabs, and made a part of the Israeli “national food” repertoire, hummus is consumed in Israel in huge amounts. At the same time, hummus is associated with masculinity, and its consumption patterns are highly gendered. As the author argues in this article, the masculine signification of hummus resulted from a combination of factors, including its material and nutritional qualities, its modes of consumption, as well as the symbolic meanings that became attached to hummus as an Arab dish. These meanings are related to the place of Arabness in the Zionist construction of a masculine New Hebrew, itself a product of the intertwined politics of settlement and masculinity.