[Sca-cooks] NY Times article.....

[Pixel, Goddess and Queen]

On Thu, 29 Aug 2002, Lord Boroghul Khara wrote:

> "When men cook it's on special occasions, such as at barbecues or under
> exceptional circumstances," said Samantha Kwan, who is writing her doctoral
> dissertation on food and identity for the sociology department at the
> University of Arizona. Indeed, as sociologists have long argued, a man's
> interest in food preparation is directly proportional to the approval he
> receives from his audience. A seminal academic paper on the subject, Ms.
> Kwan said, is "Making Pancakes on Sunday: The Male Cook in Family
> Tradition," published in 1983 by Thomas Adler.
>
>
>
> Ok.. I'm gonna grump a little.....  Of course it's an exceptional
> circumstance.....  I'm feeding my family!
>
> I've got to take exception to "directly proportional to the approval he
> receives from his audience" bit.  Why is it that everything people do these
> days has to have a justification other than simply "they do it for the joy
> of it"?
>

Yes, but you're special. The stereotypical American male (and in many
other Western cultures, for that matter) needs constant ego-stroking and
assurances and justification and all that rot.

As for the $275 knife, the stereotypical male likes expensive toys,
regardless of what sort of toys they are (I'd like to see the customer
stats by gender as to who spends more money at Sharper Image or Hammacher
Schlemmer). They're status symbols, as are single-use kitchen gadgets. The
best is a hugely expensive single-use kitchen gadget (says the woman who
is contemplating a Revolation II chocolate temperer). It's why the king
always had more concubines than anybody else.


Margaret