A Women’s Place is in the Kitchen: Millennial Edition
Millennials have broken a lot of societal norms, and been accused of “killing” everything from mayonnaise to the nuclear family. The way we cook, eat, and consume food has changed radically in the past 30 years. Sometimes it’s for the better, as we collectively focus more on personal values, nutrition, and sustainability. And sometimes, it’s purely for luxury and convenience, à la my single person’s dinner of leaning against the kitchen counter and eating olives on a spoon, fresh out of the jar, and calling it a charcuterie board.
Either way, it’s hard to ignore that we women spend less time cooking than we did in the decades before (and this has ruffled some feathers on Reddit). For anyone who still thinks “A Woman’s Place is in the kitchen”, we say, “Not anymore.” As Millennial women, we are celebrating our place in the generation of Kitchen Liberation. Finally, we are free to explore.
In recognition of the thousands and thousands of hours that women have spent in the kitchen throughout history, here’s a list of what we’ve been doing instead:
A Woman’s Place is in the _________
- Garden. Gloves on. Covered in dirt
- Produce Aisle. Giggling. Taking selfies with the eggplants and sending to the group thread.
- Pantry. High as shit. Eating all the snacks.
- Trader Joe’s Candy Aisle, practicing self-mastery & self control…. Just kidding, we bought $42 of Choco-Joes Cocoa Hoes.
- Farmers market, sizing up the mangos.
- Sample Kiosk at Costco, going ham on turkey and pesto.
- All-You-Can-Eat-Buffet, stuffing her face with crab legs and moo goo gai pan, and pocketing a few egg rolls to go.
- Michelin Star restaurant. Booked a month in advance. Afraid her flaky friend is going to no-show.
- Pastry case at the local French bakery. Deliberating which macarons to buy. Attempting to avert the hangry look in people’s eyes, as they glare from the long line. Breaking into a cold sweat. Panicking. Completely overwhelmed.
- Backyard barbeque. Regretting purchasing macarons. What was she thinking, getting Earl Gray?! Her friends crack a white claw and eat an oreo while the dog licks rib sauce off of its face. They don’t deserve her. Nobody here even speaks French. She’s not splurging on this again.
- Eiffel Tower. That’s it. She’s taking herself on vacation to Paris, France. Everyone in Paris drinks coffee, and she’s planning to load up on it while she enjoys a fresh pile of carbohydrates and contemplates where to go next.
- Swim-up Cancun cocktail bar. Drinking pina coladas with her girlfriends. Loudly shouting along to Bad Bunny.
- Airplane bathroom. Bargaining with the Gods. Wishing she hadn’t eaten that street food in New Delhi. Vowing never to travel again
- Back in line at Trader Joes, protesting the removal of free coffee samples by ripping into a bag of Doughnut Joe’s Booty Holes. She’s truly revolutionary.
- Sketchy late-night hot dog cart. Losing integrity. Living like there’s no tomorrow.
- Cemetery, collecting flowers and fruit for herself off the graves of the dead. (What? They weren’t going to eat it anyway…).
- Kitchen… Pants-less. After midnight. In front of the fridge. Staring into the abyss.
Author Bio: Kristen Yaney is a Seattle based writer, entrepreneur, and entertainer. She hosts Deeply Funny podcast, encouraging the art of creative self-expression. @deeplyfunny| Listen to Deeply Funny Podcast | Kristen Yaney — Medium