Cooking is a life skill, like swimming and driving. Yet, it remains a gendered activity. The kitchen has been ordained as exclusively a woman’s domain and it remains so in most households. It is baffling the way many men, who have had access to high standards of education, proudly claim ‘I have never poured a glass of water for myself’. This master-slave attitude is precisely why it is still women’s duty to cook and maintain the household, even at the end of an exhausting day at work.
The kitchen is by all means one of the most important rooms of the house, but it has been made specifically feminine .For this reason it stands separated from the rest of the house, from the mainstream narrative. It would be worth referring to the leaking tap in the Great Indian Kitchen (2021). A plumbing defect anywhere in the house will be fixed, unless it is in the kitchen for this doesn’t inconvenience the men of the household.
There is a certain level of hypocrisy in play when men who cook in professional kitchens are praised while it is labelled unmanly for him to cook at home. This coloured attitude stems from demarcating a professional as opposed to a personal life and the gendering of the various duties involved. There is hierarchy between professional and domestic work. That explains why it is considered progress for women to have a career but a descent for men to do household work.
The rigid gender exclusivity is wilting in certain households where members of the family share the various domestic responsibilities, and this is a good sign of progress. The key term here is ‘share’ and not ‘help’. The purpose of a gender-neutral kitchen is to create a space where gender does not determine the behaviour and duties of individuals. The term ‘kitchen’ in no way restricts the equal division of work to cooking. It refers to all activities, be it as simple as filling a glass of water, that are to be performed there. It is worth remembering that neither men nor women are here to serve each other.
Among young educated parents, a movement towards a gender-neutral kitchen can be sensed. It is refreshing to witness conversations on various social media platforms which propagate ways through which this can be achieved. The foremost among them is teaching boys to cook. What is equally important is to not make a fuss about it. Children, irrespective of their gender, should be taught to execute age appropriate duties in the kitchen, and by extension in the entire house. This lays the foundation for soldering equality in relationships, a value they’ll carry with them throughout their life.
Going a step ahead, many toy companies in Europe and America have introduced gender-neutral play kitchens for kids. Play kitchens play an important role in gender socialisation and therefore is the perfect place to incorporate changes. Ferm Living, a Danish brand, has introduced Toro Play Kitchen which is minimalist and noted for the use of a wooden colour palette intended to appeal to both boys and girls. This will change the perception of kitchen among children and the various roles associated with it.
People have begun realising the importance of gender-neutral kitchens. Initiatives like these can bring about positive changes in the society for they address gender inequality at its root. Let the change begin in our kitchens.