The American Dinner Party

The dinner party is a seemingly simple part of the American culture. At its core, a dinner party is a gathering of family, friends or honored guests, who come together to share in food, drink and conversation. Contradictory to this simple appearance, dinner parties contain a wealth of historical influence, social expectations, and gender roles. This intriguing part of American life is, unfortunately disappearing from mainstream society. This decline can be explained by the shift in American dining, from formal to informal, as evidenced by dinner parties.