My current Facebook status of January 21, 4:53pm (GMT +8) currently references my mixed feelings towards the article "Cooking Made Manly" on Slate's site doubleX. I'm not appalled that the site is featuring this article, I'm appalled that this magazine exists. I understand that food politics is gendered in its discourse but to have a whole magazine dedicated to the need for "men to beat women at their own game" in cooking? It's ridiculous.
Look at the title. Beef. Beef has always been gendered as a masculine food. It seems that in popular culture, men are maligned a lot more than women are if they declare themselves vegetarian. In the same vein, it would seem that men are always the one taking over the BBQ while the kitchen tends to remain a woman's domain. Look at the Food Network for crying out loud! From my own knowledge of the network, pretty much all of the shows dedicated to grilling meat are helmed by men. Women still have the usual baking and entertaining shows.
Who also says that women always want their recipes "easy" and that they don't care about pressure in espresso makers or how the bison was fed or the sharpness of Japanese knives. If any of these "men" had watched an episode of Martha Stewart they would realize how wrong they are.
Finally, on the point of being able to get a girl into bed by cook? Ha. I fully expect any guy I date to be able to cook. A guy making me a gourmet meal will not get me into a his bed, but not being able to cook will definitely decrease his chances of a second date.
There is so much more to say but I'm done ranting.
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