Modern woman and Kitchen Boundaries

Me and my father were having a late night discussion on who is a better cook, a man or a woman? A question which many of us have come across many times. I argued that it was definitely a woman. My dad immediately fired up another question as to why is it that it is mostly men who cook in the restaurants? Well, many of us would obviously answer that men just take it as a profession while women cook at home.

I look at many TV series today which comes with the tagline ‘Aaj ki nayi soch’ ( modern thought) and portray women as a strong, independent character who competes with the men in every field of life. You even have posters today saying women are not made to make Rotis( Indian Bread) in the kitchen. I was recently watching a short clip of Big Boss and heard a contestant rant about her fellow contestant that she has done nothing in the house except cooking while she believed that she deserved to win because she has competed in all the tasks equally with the men in the house.  This particular clip forced me to write an article about how women are portrayed as old fashioned and kitchen has become a demeaning concept in the race to become a modern woman.

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I agree to the fact that women have reached new heights today in various fields and sectors. Women are being educated today and are being given the freedom to to shape their own life which could have been impossible few decades ago. Women have always fought for their rights and even today continue to fight for their space in the society. But with corporate and media banking on the opportunity have created a completely different meaning of women empowerment. Women do not need empowerment, they need recognition, respect for the work and responsibility they carry out for their own families.

There is no denying to the fact that men and women are biologically different while there are certain laws of nature that cannot be broken. No matter how much we campaign on gender equality, there are certain differences between a man and a woman and they cannot be equal.  Even today it remains equally difficult for any women to balance between career and family, to fight for her own rights. Women today demand to be treated the same way as the men, be it equal pay, equal rights or equality in any other aspect. Yet, the question remains, are men and women equal?

There might be many feminists out there who ridicule me for my opinion but the fact that women are giving up on kitchen to compete with the men is a disturbing thought. I see many girls of my age or even elder to me who take pride in not knowing how to cook but boast about their professional skills. It has been portrayed in the wrong way all along. It doesn’t matter if you are a woman or a man, cooking is an essential skill just like driving, swimming or any other skill you would have learnt in life. Every living being on this earth works for food. No one can imagine a life without food but with buzzing lifestyle and processed food taking over our life, cooking in kitchen seems to be an old fashioned concept today.

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Even today, I wait for Sundays to approach quickly because that is the day my mom cooks special breakfast and lunch for me and my dad. I help her with the dishes and kitchen work the previous day so that she would cook my favorite dish on Sunday. On Sunday morning, I wake up happily thinking about my favorite dish. I would be drooling all over the house with the aroma awakening my senses and my mom would make me wait like a puppy on the dining table. When that food would reach my table, I would be thankful to the lords for giving me an amazing mom who can cook such a yummy meal for me.

That to me is the power of Kitchen. The art of turning a vegetable or any food into something amazing and yummilicious should not be underestimated. My mother still remains unaware of many aspects of the material world but I would say she is the perfect example of a modern woman. She has earned bread for the family for fifteen years, handles every bank account or money matters with perfection and cooks amazing food with ingredients plus loads of love.

A modern women is not the one who breaks away from the kitchen boundaries and competes with men. A modern women is the one who is independent and strong in every field of life and that would include cooking too. Don’t forget ladies! Even if you belong to the kitchen, that’s where the knives are kept. Don’t let that go out of your control.