Fear of a black stove: Are women still putting in work in the kitchen?

 

 

Let me just start out by saying this: personally, I’m one of those women who loves to cook. I am one of those Food Network junkies, and have gotten caught many a time at the company printer picking up chicken casserole recipes instead of weekly reports. Even though I love burning the pot, I also completely understand how time consuming and tiring it can be. We’ve all come home beat from work, only to stare at the short ribs defrosted in the sink like they’re the bogey man.

Now please understand, as the working mother of a very active and curious toddler, I have found myself waving the white flag on cooking many nights when a long day has drained me of all my energy, opting to just scoop up some Boston Market (at least they sell vegetables), or order a pizza. But, I do my very best to make this an infrequent occurrence.

By contrast, I have come across women who are simply clueless in the kitchen. I know a few couples in which the woman doesn’t cook and when they moved in with their equally kitchen-clueless men, both people in the couple immediately packed on twenty pounds from continually eating Chinese take-out.

Back in the day, growing up down south my mother and grandmother always made sure I had a fully balanced meal for dinner every night; it seems that’s simply not the case today in the homes of young, professional women.  As I’ve gotten older many of my friends have started cohabiting with their significant others, and the question that always seems to come up between them is… who’s cooking dinner? As I eavesdrop on my husband when he talks to his friends about their spouses, it seems that a lot of women just aren’t cooking anymore.

 

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