Abstract
This paper, introduces a new question—at least one that is often overlooked. How should we address questions of gender, and particularly questions of the past and present nature of women’s cooking, in contemporary food politics? With a few important exceptions, neither scholars nor activists nor food critics typically spend much energy debating what these calls for home cooking (or other food reforms) might mean to gendered divisions of labor, to questions of gendered equity, or to the lives of women. But talking about women’s work isn’t simply airing old laundry. Thinking about gender gives us new questions to ask and new options for moving forward in food politics. Historical romanticization, have suggested, can too easily accompany calls for home cooking. But it’s often a particular romanticization of work that women have done. If we can’t think in gendered terms, we can’t really analyze these narratives. Attending to the mundane tasks that made up “women’s work,” understanding how romanticized notions of the past have long been used to constrain women, and expanding our vision of the past to encompass the “many stories” that make up women’s history of cooking is crucial. A smarter women’s history offers ways to counter current narratives—a way to think beyond the constraints that so often make it hard to move forward in food politics. It helps us to connect what can seem like individual consumer choices to larger social systems that also need changing.
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
FOOD POLITICS, WOMEN'S HISTORY, COOKING, GENDER ROLES, FOOD CULTURE
