Do women still belong in the kitchen?

“Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to that idea” – Robert Heilein

 

Woman- wife, mother, sister, leader, teacher, warrior.

Limiting women, to just the kitchen, in 2013 is not only oppressing but it is discriminatory. Everyone belongs anywhere. Are there male chefs? Male nurses? Male nannies? Yes, there are. We, woman, do not expect men to still hunt. As much as it is expected in most cultures that women be the caregivers and the domestics, it has become a social norm to expect woman to still and only be what our great-grandmothers were i.e. domestic slaves.
 

It has been said that it is a man’s world and woman just live in it. Well, we do not just live, because according to some men, we are here to serve and cater to the male species. Such notions drive feminists crazy.

“Woman is not born fully formed; she is gradually shaped by her upbringing. Biology does not determine what makes a woman a woman- a woman learns her role from man and others in society” – Simone de Beauvoir (http://www.sparknotes.com).

Women have been cocooned to fit into specific roles that do not seem “manly” enough, therefore should be passed down to the opposite sex. Expectations are set for children at birth already. If you are born a boy, you are dresses in blue and are bought car toys and are expected to protect and provide. If you are born a girl, you are dressed in pink and should play with dolls and are taught at a young age how to cook and clean as preparation for your domestic duties as a wife.

Feminist and Literature lecturer at Midrand Graduate Institute, Mary-Anne Potter: “For previous generations, it would have been acceptable to say that a woman’s place is in the kitchen. However, the same cannot be said about our experience of womanhood today. My mother and grandmother were expected to embrace their domestic roles, but, for me, I was raised into a world where what I choose to be is important. For women today, choice has enabled us to embrace a life that is entirely our own. Yes, we choose to be a homemaker, which is a remarkable and often undervalued profession, but we can also choose to be a doctor, a journalist or a lawyer.”

 

“Even as we celebrate Women’s month, gender-specific issues seem to have been overshadowed by what matters most- men and their power struggles. Women are still forced into low-paying, insecure and unskilled jobs, and are often paid less than their male co-workers” Rune (2013).

To this day, women still sacrifice their own advancements in life in so that they can concentrate on looking after their homes, children and husbands. Many women do not know that they are not bound to just being a housekeeper. Women have brains too and as much ability as men. The kitchen is where we prepare meals made of love, not under duress. Women are now breadwinners and sugar-mamas and some men are now stay-at-home-dads or house-husbands and nannies “mannies”.

Moving towards full emancipation of woman in South Africa has not been a smooth progression. We are not there yet.

According to (http://www.timeslive.co.za), a new bill to fully emancipate South African women is fully underway. Minister of Women, Children and People with Disabilities was quoted in a speech prepared for delivery at the launch of Women’s Month in Freedom Park, Tshwane saying “Women still face injustices. The injustices require us women to form a united front to continue with the struggle for the total emancipation of women. The Woman Empowerment and Gender Equality Bill will provide a number of legislative tools to help achieve gender equality”.

Women do not belong in the kitchen. They belong in every room of every building.

 

 

 

Sources Consulted:

 

Rune, M 2013. “Oppression of women is holding back our democracy”. Sunday World. 18 August, p. 15

Spark Notes. 2013. The Second Sex: Important quotations explained [online]. <Available>http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/secondsex/quotes.html

Times LIVE. 2013. New bill to emancipate South African women- Xingwana [online]. <Available>http://www.timeslive.co.za/politics/2013/08/03/new-bill-to-emancipate-south-african-women-xingwana