I should probably preface this by saying I have never held back on ordering the food I wanted on a date. My thinking is: if you can’t appreciate the hedonistic power of a delicious meal, I don’t really want to dine with you again, or at all, really.

However, I have heard girlfriends worry about what is and isn’t okay to order on a date, so I know some women do feel judged by what and how they eat. Turns out this concern isn’t just in their minds. A recent survey suggests that guys like to see a girl eat, but it depends what is on her plate.

According to a survey of 618 Japanese men and women in their teens and twenties, when asked whether they liked women who eat a lot, 84.5% of men responded that they did. Only 1.1% replied in the negative.

Of course, it’s not quite that simple either. When asked about the kinds of food that would give a positive or negative impression when eaten in large quantities, the most positive by far was salad, with 64.4% of men saying it warmed the cockles of their heart to see their girl going to town on some leafy greens. The next closest items, white rice, simmered vegetables and rice balls, aren’t exactly gut busters either.

Meanwhile, tasty but less healthy foods ranked high on the negative impression list. Beef bowls got 33.2% negative, hamburgers 31.7% and fried chicken 29.1%

So, clearly, there are some preconceived notions about what foods are “ladylike”, and the survey also suggests that how you eat might be just as important as what you eat. When asked if they paid attention to the way a woman eats, just over half of men said yes. When asked what they noticed, the majority answered in the irritatingly vague “just the way she eats,” but table manners, enjoyment of the food, how she holds a fork or chopsticks, and how much food she puts in her mouth in one bite also made the list.

So, according to this survey at least, thinking that your date is judging what and how you eat isn’t entirely far-fetched. But just as I was succumbing to despair over the state of gender relations in Japan, I scrolled through the comments and found a lot of men voicing support for healthy, hearty, eaters.

As one guy put it, “Dating a girl who picks at nothing but salad is about as fun as going to a fun park with someone who offers to hold your bag while you ride the roller coasters alone.”

Preach, brother.

Source: Himasoku