Everyone Belongs in the Kitchen

Welcome to the first Food & Culture post!

The purpose of these weekly posts (check in every Thursday!) is to cover a broad cultural side of food in order to expand culinary knowledge. If you have any ideas for post topics on this subject, please feel free to send me an email at fluffycheffy88@gmail.com. I'm excited to start this series off with a post discussing stereotypes surrounding men, women, and cooking with the aim of trying to break those societal barriers down by utilizing examples of the Paleolithic peoples of America, the community depicted in Homer's epic, The Odyssey, and the Māori people of New Zealand.

We've all heard the stereotypical stigmatic phrases: "A woman's place is in the kitchen" or "The man is the provider for his family", right? It's no secret that the common stigma is that a woman's responsibility lies within domestic roles (cleaning, taking care of the children, cooking, etc) while men are generally responsible for providing for the family monetarily and doing more masculine chores (fixing household items, outside labor, etc). A man's place is definitely not in the kitchen.

I say stigma because there is an undeniable negativity associated with the aforementioned notions, for both genders! Women have been fighting for equal pay to men in the workplace since 1776 and stay-at-home dads are not shown as much respect as they deserve (at least in America).

I'm not trying to diminish the effort or hard work that working fathers endure to provide for their families or offend anyone by any means. I'm only trying to say that by fostering notions which offer little room for exceptions and exceptional room for bias and judgment, allows them to grow into damaging stereotypes that become the subject of arguments for many decades.

Women as professionals in the culinary industry as well attitudes towards women in the workforce in general has definitely evolved to include women more and more, but these stereotypes are sadly still present in society today.

 Of course, the mindset in 2017 has changed radically compared to say, the 1950s. Now more than ever, gender roles are being torn down everywhere: women are CEOs and powerful leaders of the workforce, while men are professional chefs and stay-at-home fathers. This is fantastic, but the fact is that we are currently living in one of the most progressive eras in history yet there is still prominent gender inequality present for both women in the working world as well as men who'd rather stay home, take care of their child[ren], and be the chef himself while his wife works.

That all being said, in my first post I promised this site would be a place where positivity reigned. I'm not here to beat the same dead horse concerning gender equality; I think it's safe to say that we all agree that the world would be a better place if we all treated each other respectfully and equally. If you don't think that, I'm not sure this community will be a good place for you as it's all about bringing people together from all different walks of life.

I am not interested in fostering the idea that there has to be sides. Of course, men and women are different in obvious ways, but there doesn't have to be this competition, this fight for equality- for what should be a basic human right for all. No, while an important subject, a more in-depth discussion concerning gender equality has its place on a different blog. I only bring it up briefly as a way to highlight that these and other similar stereotypes are damaging.

I wanted to kick off The Manifest Recipe's first Food & Culture post examining societies that have more fluid gender roles, where men and women share communal roles when it comes to cooking, as a way to bring perspective and community back to something we partake in everyday: Food.

Further, I want to help break down that barrier, that stigma, surrounding the best room in your house or apartment.

Prehistorically, in hunter-gatherer groups, both men and women were responsible for gathering and preparing foodstuffs that were cooked for the group with seemingly little regard to gender roles; it's not clear that there even were gender roles present in several Paleo-Indian groups of the Stone Age. 

For example, ethnographic data suggests that although women of the Plains and Great Basin people "rarely hunt medium to large game, they actively help men hunt successfully" and often took part in communal hunting.

Through Paleolithic societies such as these, it is apparent that this communal feeling surrounding food was present from the beginning. We should look to these intelligent people for inspiration in sustaining this feeling of community. They all had a simple common goal: Survive. Survive as a group by working together.

painting by Martin Pate

In order to evoke that inspiration, let's focus on some recipes that these people would have eaten.

You may be familiar with the The Paleo Diet (also commonly known as "The Caveman Diet"). It is a diet that is "grain-free, bean-free, potato-free, dairy-free, and sugar-free" with meat, fish, fruit, vegetables, nuts and berries as protein sources. Many people (including myself!) swear by this diet as it is light and lean and provides you with ample amounts of energy. Take a look at the list of recipes on the site above or try a couple of my favorite Paleo recipes:

Ginger Beef and Broccoli

Honey Pork and Apples (Crockpot recipe)

Chicken Shawarma 

The other day, I was watching Cooked- best selling author Michael Pollan's new documentary series on Netflix dedicated to exploring the evolution of cooking through four natural elements: fire, earth, water, and air. The show is an interesting take on the topic and has similar goals to what I'm trying to do with The Manifest Recipe. I recommend it! I will throw out a warning, however, that there are brief scenes depicting graphic killing of animals at times (for example, in the first episode, the Martu people of Australia survive off Goannas, Australian Monitor Lizards; when they catch them, they bash their heads in to kill them) which may be unsettling to watch for some. 

In the "Fire" episode, Pollan quotes British novelist Henry Fielding as saying that Homer's beloved epic, The Odyssey, was a "book about food". Indeed, prominent men in the Odyssey community (Achilles, Odysseus, etc) were seen as masculine although they were doing what has been labeled commonly as "woman's work" (such as cooking and serving food). The people seeing their great ruler, Odysseus, actually preparing meals and serving them as his guests, does not diminish his station at all. 

In fact, performing menial everyday tasks brings about that sense of community because these prominent men are there, with their people, doing the same work they are as an act of solidarity with much the same goal as the Paleolithic humans: survive as a community. Survive as a family. 

Performing acts such as butchering, cooking, and serving "doesn't diminish a man's prestige" in these ancient communities "because it carries so much importance ritually", Pollan says in the episode. I further recommend reading this article to read more in depth about Fielding's interpretations concerning The Odyssey being a poem about food. It's an interesting take on the classic.

Click here to see 8 Ancient Roman recipes for some inspiration from our ancestors.

In Māori culture, both men and women cook and take part in raising the children. Click here to see recipes from the New Zealand based group.

Painting by John Gilfillan

Throughout the years, this concept of a more egalitarian community, embraced in Paleolithic and Ancient civilizations as well as Māori culture, got lost (in Western culture especially) and was replaced by the idea that a woman was better suited to domestic roles while the man's duty was providing for the family by going to work. 

Let's bring that communal feeling back to the world of cooking.

We can accomplish bringing community and pride back to cooking for both genders by disregarding societal norms that people who don't know you have set for you. 

Are you gonna take that? 

You shouldn't.

You know why?

Cause no one should ever tell you how to live your life.

Live with this thought in mind. And, remember that you are unique with your own unique set of talents, passions, and hobbies. If you want to focus on your career, do it; if you want to focus on raising your children, do that; if you want to cook, cook. Regardless of gender. 

I leave you with some homework: Think about something that you have been wanting to do but haven't because something has been holding you back.  You can start small ("I want to try cooking Chinese food" or "I'm going to take that cooking class I've been wanting to try") or you can go big ("I've always wanted to go to culinary school"). 

Then, go do it.

In the meantime:

Stay tuned for the very first recipe post, coming at you Sunday 2/19! It's a tried and true personal family recipe that you will want to make immediately!

Don't forget to follow me at the bottom of the page to keep in touch with all things The Manifest Recipe.

See you at the dinner table.