Voracious Cultural Consumption: The intertwining of gender and social status

This article contributes to the study of stratification in consumption activities by focusing on the association between ‘voracious’ leisure, gender and social status. Cultural voraciousness is a measure of the pace and pattern of leisure activities designed to complement the concept of cultural omnivorousness. We show that men are more voracious than women but that the pattern of the relationship with social status is not significantly different: individuals with higher levels of human, economic and cultural capital are more voracious than others regardless of gender. However, we find support for a reinforcement effect of gender and social status, which creates the greatest differential in voraciousness between men with the highest social status and women with the lowest, lending support to the idea that voracious cultural consumption acts as a marker of social boundaries and a sign of social exclusion.