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This paper explores the themes of history, phenomenology, entertainment, participatory culture and social media to determine our fascination with food porn in the digital sphere. Comparing Roland Barthes' theory on toys, connections are drawn to conclude that our food porn consumption habits are induced by our innate desire for play. The role of play is often understudied when it comes to contemporary habits. Barthes paints a picture to depict the world of toys as a microcosm of the adult world that is activated once it has faced interaction. Barthes highlights the fact that the objects emerge from their solely functional state and gain desirability when they are socialized by the hands of the child. This concept is applied to society's obsession with digital food porn. This project seeks to align society's innate urge to activate functional tools in the adult world (food) and socialize them into tools of entertainment.
Manely Farhangdoust (Mon,) studied this question.