Crowded kitchens: the ‘democratisation’ of domesticity?

Abstract

Building on previous work concerning the gendered nature of domestic space, this article focuses on the kitchen as a key site in which gendered roles and responsibilities are experienced and contested. As men have begun to engage more frequently in cooking and other domestic practices (albeit selectively and often on their own terms), this article argues that kitchens have become ‘crowded’ spaces for women. Drawing on evidence from focus groups, interviews and ethnographic observation of kitchen practices in South Yorkshire (UK), we suggest that men's entry into the kitchen has facilitated the expression of a more diverse range of masculine subjectivities, while also creating new anxieties for women. Specifically, our evidence suggests that family meals may be experienced as a site of domestic conflict as well as a celebration of family life; that convenience and shortcuts can be embraced by women without incurring feelings of guilt and imperfection; that cooking is being embraced as a lifestyle choice by an increasing numbers of men who use it as an opportunity to demonstrate competence and skill, while women are more pragmatic; and that kitchens may be experienced as ‘uncanny’ spaces by women as men increasingly assert their presence in this domain. Our analysis confirms that while the relationship between domestic practices and gendered subjectivities is changing, this does not amount to a fundamental ‘democratisation’ of domesticity with significantly greater equality between men and women.

Basándose en trabajo previo respecto de la naturaleza generizada del espacio doméstico, este artículo se centra en la cocina como un sitio clave en el cual los roles y responsabilidades generizados son vividos y disputados. A medida que los hombres han comenzado a involucrarse más frecuentemente en el cocinar y en otras prácticas domésticas (aunque sea selectivamente y a menudo en sus propios términos), el artículo propone que las cocinas se han vuelto espacios ‘atestados’ para las mujeres. Basándose en evidencia de grupos de enfoque, entrevistas y observación etnográfica de las prácticas en la cocina en South Yorkshire (Reino Unido), sugerimos que la entrada de los hombres en la cocina ha facilitado la expresión de un rango más diverso de subjetividades masculinas, a la vez que se crean nuevas ansiedades para las mujeres. Específicamente, nuestra evidencia sugiere que las comidas de la familia pueden ser vividas como un lugar de conflicto doméstico así como de celebración de la vida familiar; que las mujeres pueden aceptar gustosamente la conveniencia y los atajos sin incurrir en sentimientos de culpa e imperfección; que el cocinar es aceptado como una elección de estilo de vida por un creciente número de hombres que lo utilizan como una oportunidad para demostrar competencia y habilidad, mientras que las mujeres son más pragmáticas; y que las cocinas pueden ser vividas por las mujeres como espacios ‘extraños’ a medida que los hombres reafirman su presencia en este terreno. Nuestro análisis confirma que mientras la relación entre las prácticas domésticas y las subjetividades generizadas está cambiando, esto no equivale a una ‘democratización’ fundamental de la domesticidad con una igualdad significativamente mayor entre los hombres y las mujeres.

根据过往对家户空间的性别化特质所做的研究，本文聚焦厨房做为性别化角色和责任被经验和竞逐的主要场域。由于男性开始更为频繁地参与烹饪及其他家务(尽管是选择性地且经常由他们自身决定)，本文主张，厨房对女性而言已变得‘过度拥挤’。根据对英国南约克郡的厨房实践进行的焦点团体，访谈和民族志观察所得到的证据，我们认为男性进入厨房促进了更为多元的男性主体表达，却同时为女性创造了新的焦虑。我们的证据特别显示，家庭聚餐得以同时做为经历家庭冲突与颂扬家庭生活的场域──女性可以毫无罪恶感或无需感到不完美地拥抱便利与快捷方式；但当女性更为务实倾向时，对越来越多透过烹饪彰显自信与技能男性而言，烹饪则成为一种生活方式的选择；由于男性逐渐坚持下厨，厨房对女性而言则成了一个‘诡异不安’ (uncanny) 的空间。我们的分析确认了纵使家务工作与性别化主体间的关系有了改变，但却不等同于家务根本上经历了 ‘民主化’ ，抑或两性平权因而显著提升。

Keywords:

• kitchens
• gender
• domesticity
• masculinity
• UK
• ethnography

Keywords:

• cocinas
• género
• domesticidad
• masculinidad
• Reino Unido
• etnografía

Keywords:

• 厨房
• 性别
• 家务
• 男性气概
• 英国
• 民族志

Acknowledgements

We are very grateful to the participants in this research who opened up their homes and their provisioning routines to us. We would also like to thank Beverley Mullings and the anonymous reviewers whose helpful comments and suggestions have considerably improved this article.

Notes

 1. See Gender, Place and Culture special issue (2006), including articles by Bennet (2006), Christie (2006), Robson (2006) and Schroeder (2006).

 2. That this process persists is suggested by Short's (2006) discussion of the alleged ‘deskilling’ of cooking and other domestic practices.

 3. The application of time-and-motion techniques to the analysis of kitchen practices is deftly satirised in the Nordic film Kitchen Stories (Salmer fra Kjøkkenet 2003).

 4. See also Supski (2006) on the experience of ethnically Othered women in post-colonial Australia.

 5. The project is part of a programme of research on Consumer Culture in an ‘Age of Anxiety’, funded by the European Research Council. For further details, see http://www.sheffield.ac.uk/conanx.

 6. One family included members of four generations.

 7. While it is recognised that the social and ethnic composition of these households has an impact in biasing the data toward a particular range of perspectives, the focus groups reflect a broader social constituency, including Muslim Somali women and areas of social disadvantage.

 8. In addition to video recording, the kitchen tours were also photographed. Selected images can be accessed via the project's online photo-gallery: http://www.flickr.com/photos/52548860@N08/sets.

 9. All names are pseudonyms and data are reproduced with participants' consent.

10. Symbol (.) indicates a short pause or hesitation; (…) indicates a longer pause; () indicates an indistinguishable utterance or uncertain reading; ‘…’ indicates where transcripts have been edited to exclude extraneous data.

11. Vesta was one of the brands that introduced Indian and Chinese food, in the form of ready-meals, in the UK. Angel Delight is a powdered custard product which, when whisked with milk, produces a mousse-like dessert.

12. This is something which DeVault (1991) also reports of men who express opinions regarding domestic provisioning while not being prepared to get involved in it.