Reconceptualizing power and gendered subjectivities in domestic cooking spaces

Abstract

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Gender relations and couple negotiations of British men's food practice changes after prostate cancer

“…This is not surprising given the well--documented links between femininity and women's traditional roles in food provision (Beagan, Chapman, D'Sylva, & Bassett, 2008;Charles & Kerr, 1988;DeVault, 1991;Furst, 1997;Meah, 2013). This is shown in couple PC14 where the man justified her leadership in his food changes as 'natural' despite his dramatic increased interest in food, when he said: "It's because she's interested in diet and dietary needs and things like that, more than I am really […] She is more of an expert on this than I am really."…”

The hidden work of coping: gender and the micro-politics of household consumption in times of austerity

“…The above viewpoint, which sees housework as largely drudgery and women as positioned in an oppressive relation through this work, is not without its critics (Ahlander & Bahr, 1995;Meah, 2013). Meah (2013) argues that these discourses are centred on Anglo-American 'understandings of the relationship between gender, power and domestic kitchens', observing that for 'a range of women in the Global South, as well as minority and migrant women elsewhere … activities surrounding the growth, acquisition, preparation and distribution of food in the domestic context have presented opportunities to demonstrate creativity and skill, as well as to accrue value within their families and communities, and even to provide opportunities to express resistance and empowerment within personal and structural relations' (p. 2).…”

The intricate geographies of gender ideologies in Germany

“…Routine housework is overwhelmingly done by women in Germany, despite the general rather modest converging trend toward more equality in domestic work in the Global North; as Kan et al (2011, p. 234) emphasize: ''[M]en have increased their contributions disproportionately to non-routine domestic work, suggesting that gender ideologies and the associated 'doing' of gender in interaction remain important features of the division of domestic labour.'' This trend leaves considerable continually accruing housework, such as laundry, cleaning, and everyday cooking in joint households, up to women, whereas men prefer non-routine tasks, such as cooking lavishly for friends or guests, that fit better to 'modern' peculiarities of masculinity (Meah, 2014a(Meah, , 2014b. Beck describes this specific situation of gender relationships in Germany appropriately as ''verbal openness accompanied by extensive behavioural rigidity'' (Beck, 1986, p. 169;[own translation]).…”