It works the same for guys, there's this weird cultural assumption that men are basically big babies that have to be coddled and can't be trusted with any responsibility til they're at least in their mid 40's. Commercials show the wife treating her husband the same as her three children when it comes to cleaning or meal preparation. Or they get the sitcom stereotype of spending all their time watching TV and drinking a beer.
Today I'm in the mood to break some gender stereotypes when it comes to food preparation.
The ol' assumption goes that while women are expected to do all the cooking and prep work for meals as the man hides out in his den, there is one section that he is domain: the grill. The MAN knows how to prepare MEAT and he leaves all the other little girly stuff up to his little woman.
Well not in our house. My husband liked to stay inside making some fancy side dishes (which I suck at):
I was so horribly lost this winter when our propane tank ran out and we didn't want to bother changing it til it warmed up a bit. Oh Mr. Grill, how I missed thee.When it comes to meat and fire there is none better in our house and I'd argue I can grill better than most guys who feel it is there noblesse oblige two times a year to actually go outside and try to remember how to ignite the poor thing:
I just want to remind the world that we are not all walking stereotypes and our thoughts, hopes, skills and dreams are not wholly determined by our 23rd chromosome.
Although my husband is quite stereotypical, I like to think that I do "man's work" as in, most things that break around the house are fixed by none other than ME! If I'd leave it for him, it would never happen.
ReplyDeletePlus, what stereotypical woman would love a job that nearly revolves around poo?
When I think about it, we're fairly stereotypical. But Mr. Bean is extremely responsible and loves to make all kinds of food. He does like to cook meat the most, though, but since he worked in a kitchen for 5 years, is quite good at preparing lots of other things.
ReplyDeleteAll this thinking about food is making me hungry even though I ate breakfast recently!
Oh I hear you. Growing up, my dad did all of the laundry (and did it quite well!), which people were always flummoxed to hear.
ReplyDeleteAnd it's interesting, because one of the things about being in a same-sex relationship is that the whole how-do-we-break-down-who-does-what-chore issue *can't* be automatically assigned by gender roles, so generally you really do have to talk about it. Which in general I think is a good thing, but also for me specifically, because if anyone ever waited around for my "female instincts" to kick in and for me to start spontaneously cleaning...well, let's just say that when I lived along, I think some of the dust bunnies were becoming sentient. :)
We are sadly stereotypical. Tai admits that he is lost without me. I clean and cook. If I don't cook he won't eat. He's terrible!
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