The title alludes to the gender associations of quiche as a "feminine" food in American culture, which causes men to avoid it[2] and has served as the basis of the title of multiple journal articles.[3][4][5] To gain free publicity the publisher sent copies of the book to radio personalities and newspaper columnists, and the witty "real men don't ..." definitions were widely quoted. Listeners and readers then bought the book for more of the definitions.[6]
^ Feirstein, Bruce & Lorenz, Lee (illustrator), Real Men Don't Eat Quiche, 93 pages, Pocket Books, 1982
^Gal, David; Wilkie, James (October 2010). "Real Men Don't Eat Quiche: Regulation of Gender-Expressive Choices by Men". Social Psychological and Personality Science. 1 (4): 291–301. doi:10.1177/1948550610365003. ISSN 1948-5506. S2CID 144113418.
^Cleves, Rachel Hope (2022-09-20). "Real Men Don't Eat Quiche : Queer Food and Gendered Nationalism in the Late Twentieth-Century USA". Gender & History. 34 (3): 1468–0424.12645. doi:10.1111/1468-0424.12645. ISSN 0953-5233. S2CID 252449570.
^Contois, Emily J. H. (2021-09-01). "Real men don't eat quiche, do they?: Food, fitness and masculinity crisis in 1980s America". European Journal of American Culture. 40 (3): 183–199. doi:10.1386/ejac_00052_1. S2CID 244782899.
^Reese, S. (2000). "Real men don't eat quiche (or go to doctors)". Business and Health. 18 (10 Suppl A): 4–6. ISSN 0739-9413. PMID 11146852.
^Walters, Ray, "PAPERBACK TALK; Wits of the 80's", The New York Times, Section 7, page 31, June 20, 1982