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University Daily Kansan Friday, Jan. 15, 1960
The Foodian Psycholysis
Sigmund Freud had some persuasive arguments about sex being a hidden subconscious motive for many of our actions. But according to a more modern school of thought, which has not yet been afforded the luxury of a name, Mr. Freud obviously reached some drastically wrong conclusions.
This discussion concerning Mr. Freud's error has been plagiarized from a noted gentleman with four doctorate degrees, W. S. Taylor, who writes under the pen name Soe Forth. He has published his views on "The Foodian Psycholysis" in the Fall issue of "Modern Age" magazine.
It is food and drink, not sex, that motivates our basic desires. Soe Forth says. Anyone whose primitive food interest has not been too cruelly repressed can see, if he tries, that our sexual interests, to take a striking example, are simple or sublimated food activities.
So let us then go forth and analyze a few symbols that can be found on our fair midwestern campus that pertain to food.
WHAT DOES A PAINTER PAINT?—Whether or not Rockne Krebs, Kansas City, Mo., junior, is conscious of Foodian motives, he finds himself painting a landscape scene (a productive meadow), a budding tree (which bears fruit), some fish-filled water or a fragrant kitchen. While modern or abstract art is often attributed to more ascetic motives, an artist is often influenced by a subconscious hunger for food and is induced to paint a banana, an egg, a lemon, or the lineaments of a supermarket.
Many Terms Derived From Food
Let us continue our survey into the romantic side of life. Food, being so basic in the lives of all, has been responsible for the coinage of certain terms many of which concern love. To again quote the venerable Soe Forth:
"Our grandparents' 'sparking' carried them back, subconsciously at least, to a primitive campfire with its savory cooking.
"...'spooning' shows how a manner of eating comes out in our thinking and feeling about such secondary topics as sexual love."
"The term 'petting' alludes to the age-old practice of keeping such pets as hounds and falcons to bring home the food for tomorrow's dinner table.
"The term 'necking' points clearly to the isthmus between the head where our Foodian importations are landed and the continent in which they are consumed.
After all, our ancestors embraced their
lambs, little pigs and sheaves of wheat when they became emotionally distraught with their love for nature's endowments. Soe Forth concludes:
"Touching' a love object is to test its ripeness. 'Kissing' is essentially tasting. In 1923, when Sir Harry Lauder remarked in one of his stage stories, 'I could taste her face for a week,' probably no one saw the subconscious reason for the audience's hearty appreciation. Certainly I did not, for I was still absorbed in the Freudian preoccupation with sex."
Our imaginative photographer has found numerous examples of food influencing our daily actions. In fact, food is the basic reason we are attending the Athens on the Kaw. A college degree sets a man apart from the average. It allows him to be financially able to eat steaks instead of hot dogs. It is that simple: increasing our knowledge allows us to raise our standard of living.
FORMALITY DISREGARDED—This man is obviously thinking only of food. Dinnerware is forgotton in his anxiety to fulfill his desire for nourishment.
MOTIVATIONAL RESEARCH-A recent development in advertising has been motivational research. Some corporations pay $25,000 for one research project. Notice how your eyes are fastened on the decorous display of comestibles.
UTILITARIAN—"Nothing is so useful to man as man." Spinoza said, and every man finds most useful the man who helps him secure food and even. in an emergency, can be food. Here, Rael Amos, Oswego senior, and Ron Butler, Kansas City, Kan., junior, prepare for a food gathering expedition into the wilds of Watusi land.