The Masterchef Rankings: Foucault & Distribution

I've been thinking about the concept of distribution mostly in terms of networks: distributed networks are totally decentralized. Feminism, for example, is a movement that possesses distributed qualities: it tends to stress ubiquity over unity, widespread reform rather than uniform change.

But Michel Foucault's studies on "Discipline," an institution emerging in the eighteenth century, bring together distributed networks and the ranking of the body in ways I'm still trying to flesh out. Discipline, he says,

"individualizes bodies by a location that does not give them a fixed position, but distributes them and circulates them in a network of relations" (Discipline and Punish 146)

This statement on the fluidity of bodies is directly preceded by a statement on "rank," which seems opposed to fluid, distributed movement: "Discipline is an art of rank, a technique for the transformation of arrangements." How is a body simultaneously included in a system of ranks and a system of distribution? Why does Foucault pair rank with distribution?

He doesn't make this point very explicit, but I think by the term "rank" he means "arrangement." He dissociates rank from hierarchy. For instance, he discusses the transformation from Roman pyramidal supervision--a hierarchical system of governance, military, and education--to a distributed system of education in the eighteenth century when "'rank' begins to define the great form of distribution of individuals in the educational order" (146). Students occupy multiple ranks, some determined by test scores, others by behavior, and still other by social position--by cliques perhaps. They are arranged according to different criterion.

Although I struggle with the term "rank," I can see Foucault's description of distributed ranks possessing some significant implications for the way food images induce our bodies into institutionally specified arrangements. I've been watching celeb chef Gordon Ramsey's show on Fox, Masterchef, which arranges its contestants according to specific skill sets. The final two contestants, for instance, were type cast as the "pastry princess," a twenty-two year old female from the South, and "the experimenter," a male from Boston. In accordance with the dominant institution of gender in the US, the pastry princess occupies a relatively passive position, embodying the "traditional" Southern cuisine. The male "experimenter" occupies the active, innovating position: he takes risks, which could lead to his downfall or elevate him to godly status. Ooooo the excitement! The pastry princess eventually won, her Southern gal appearance made for good television especially for the all-male panel of judges. In terms of rank, the pastry princess occupied the high position among desert cooking, but a lower position among those experimenting with entrees.

Whitney, the "pastry princess"

The prevailing food image emerging out of the show was one in which rank mattered, but only as a concept distributed among different culinary spheres. No single person was the measure of what counted as a Masterchef; thus, the panel of three judges, and not just Gordon Ramsey. This distributed ranking system extends well into other aspects of food images, especially among images produced by food critics. Even the prevailing conversations on health and "going green" reinforce the idea of ranking. A certain acumen, a set of knowledge, is required to be on the side of good food, health, and sustainability. In fact, I find that the more you use the term "sustainability" the higher your rank in institutions focused on healthy food and fair trade. Foucault reveals that such rankings still fall under the regime of Discipline, making bodies "docile."