Myth of Gender Roles in the Kitchen

Gender Stereotypes --- oversimplified and overgeneralized beliefs about what women and men are like and what traits and behaviors are expected of them or considered appropriate. These Gender stereotypes like "Women are better at cooking than men" are enforced even before we are born. Starting with gender reveal parties marked by blue for a boy and pink for a girl, or the gifts the little one receives being bows or dolls if it's a girl and trucks or action figures if it's a boy. As children grow, these norms persist. Girls may be encouraged to do chores around the house like helping out in the kitchen whereas boys may be encouraged to do other chores like mowing the lawn.  

Stereotypes aren't simply built into our biology. They're learned through our interactions with each other, and from our upbringing.  Often, advertisements, movies, and other media platforms reinforce the idea that women are depicted as primary cooks. We are constantly being shaped by everyone and everything around us. Stereotypes are not necessarily wrong. It is completely normal for a girl to love cooking. The problem arises when gender norms limit what an individual wants to do, like if a boy is kept from cooking because it is "too feminine".  

The stereotype that women are basically goddesses in the kitchen who don't even need a recipe because of their natural born talent and that men are hopeless masses of body in the kitchen who can't do anything as simple as making craft mac'n cheese is simply untrue, and sexist in both aspects. Stereotyping individuals for their gender to determine their culinary skills, positively or negatively, puts forth limitations. Women who are average in cooking may be overshadowed because of this stereotype, and men who have the same level of proficiency as the average woman is more likely to get appreciated. Take this for an example, once, my brother made himself the most amazing egg-only omelet with a side of crispy delicious toast and EVEN cleaned the dishes after. Apparently, this phenomenon of cleaning up after yourself was never seen before by my parents despite the fact that I made food for both me and my brother when nobody was home in the summer. These instances are the reason why people grow up abiding by these gender roles. 

The truth in this matter is that men are just as capable of performing in the kitchen as women. In fact, the cooking industry is MALE DOMINATED. Sure there are indeed other factors that play into this, but the percentage of women in the cooking industry is 22.5% whereas the percentage of men in the cooking industry lies at 77.5%. The skills needed to be good at cooking include multi-tasking, organization, creativity, and general knowledge and interest in food. It does not come from the fact that you were born with XX chromosomes or that you were born with XY chromosomes. Cooking is not a sex-linked gene. It is something that is learned and is not genetically predetermined.