Eating Gender Online: TikTok Mukbangs and the Performance of Appetite

Introduction: Mukbang videos on TikTok have become a prominent form of digital food content, transforming eating into a public, mediated, and interactive practice. This paper examines how mukbangs function as a site for the performance of gendered norms related to appetite, bodily control, and visibility. Drawing on gender performativity theory and sociological studies of food consumption, the study explores how appetite itself is socially and gendered constructed within platform cultures. Methods: The research employs qualitative content analysis of a purposive sample of highly engaged TikTok mukbang videos produced by creators of different genders. In addition, an analysis of user comments was conducted to examine audience reactions and moral evaluations related to food consumption, body image, and self-discipline. Videos and comments were coded thematically with particular attention to gendered patterns of representation and interaction. Results: The findings indicate significant gender differences in both the performance and reception of mukbang content. Women and gender-diverse creators are more frequently subjected to moralizing, health-focused, and sexualized judgments, whereas male creators are more often associated with humor, excess, and spectacle. At the same time, some creators strategically use mukbangs to challenge dominant norms of restraint and thinness, framing visible appetite as pleasure and self-assertion. Conclusions: The study concludes that TikTok mukbangs simultaneously reproduce and contest gendered expectations surrounding eating and the body. By making appetite publicly visible, mukbangs reveal how digital consumption practices are deeply embedded in power relations shaped by gender and platform logics. This research contributes to gender studies and digital sociology by highlighting appetite as a key dimension of online identity performance.