>The examples Sergio gave (prof. chefs are male, frex), seem to me to
>depend not only on the idea that women and men have different roles,
>but also on the common RW idea that men are always better than
>women at everything, and that women need to be protected from the
>nasty harsh world outside the home. (These ideas are now vanishing
>rapidly, but that's the basis)
These ideas seem to have been as widespread e.g. in medieval Paris where the weavers' guild was led by women fairly often. A guild leader had to be an accomplished master, of course...
>Cedric the Orlanthi farmer comes home from the fields, and he's
>hungry. So he makes a meal, and eats it, and when his wife gets back
>she'll have some as well. But Cedric is unlikely to boast about how
>good his cooking is, and if they're entertaining friends then Rowena
>will be the one in the kitchen all day.
Unlikely if you know anything about Iron Age cooking - it is a full-time job. Ok, most of the time your porridge (possibly "spiced up" with vegetables or other seasonal stuff) will just rest on the fire, but it will do so for about 20 hours before it is anything close to consumption. Other kitchen activities will keep one person busy while watching over this pot. (From direct communication with a couple just having experienced life under 1st century conditions.)
However, if there is flour to be ground for tomorrow's tortillas, I guess Cedric will sit down and do so.
Powered by hypermail