by Tory Davis
WHAT’S HAPPENING
- More husbands are eagerly navigating the dinnertime waters, as their spouses waver between gratitude and irritation in this latest evolution in gender roles. Though many wives are relieved another household task is knocked off the list, they’re unsettled when their culinary skills are criticized (DoubleX.com 12.15.09).
- Writers Sandra Tsing Loh and Hanna Rosin call the type a male “kitchen bitch” — referring to the bossy nature of the role rather than the more typical submissive meaning (TheAtlantic.com 7/8.09, DoubleX.com 12.15.09).
- In the last 40+ years, the average amount of time American married men spend cooking has tripled from seven to 22 minutes a day (Time for Life: The Surprising Ways Americans Use Their Time 1999).
- In Chicago, the African American “Real Men Cook” movement celebrates and encourages men to cook and care for their families and communities.
WHAT THIS MEANS TO BUSINESS
- It’s not Donna Reed’s kitchen anymore: Between the feminist movement and the rise of the (usually male) celebri-chef, being proficient in the kitchen is downright macho today.
- As busy families find themselves strapped for time and/or cash for dining out, efficiency increasingly trumps traditional gender roles. Many men have realized that cooking offers a creative respite from kid wrangling, while satisfying a desire to provide for their family — literally. Especially when they might have lost their job.
RESOURCES
- Real Men Cook, a non-profit organization based in Chicago, IL
- Time for Life: The Surprising Ways Americans Use Their Time, by John Robinson and Geoffrey Godbey, Pennsylvania State University Press 1999, is available via Amazon.
