Not Your Housewife: Reclaiming cooking as an act of feminist self-care // KYLIE STEINHILBER, M.S.

I recently moved in with my male partner and instantly started to notice a growing distress around food within myself. As someone who has grown up on diets and later spent a large sum of time dedicated to researching the relationships women have with food and their bodies, I know the importance that food can take on in a woman’s life. For many women, the idea of cooking, in particular, is inherently tied to the traditional stereotypes of women’s household roles in the home: cooking, cleaning, and taking care of one’s husband and kids. This image can be confining for many, especially those who don’t conform to heteronormative or binary gender roles and can have negative effects on one’s mental health. Moreover, emphasis on traditional divisions of male and female roles (masculinity/femininity) may account for health disparities in stress and well-being that disproportionately afflict women (Mayor, 2015). While I enjoy cooking, I found myself feeling that pressure when moving in with my male partner to make sure I cooked for both of us. However, this added stress that I did not predict as cooking started to feel more like an obligation than a free expression.

We cannot deny that that cooking is a domestic task women are socialized to perform. At the same time, many women enjoy cooking. However, these things don’t really align. As Julia Black, a writer for Bon Appetit, put it: “I Thought Cooking Would Make Me a Bad Feminist.” So, how can women reclaim cooking for themselves without feeling that they’re succumbing to gender oppression? For me, it involved a brief break from cooking initially. I had to express to my partner my need for him to engage in cooking activities more which flipped the gender dynamic on its head. As I began to reintegrate back in the kitchen after my time off, we began to cook together more often or switch the days each of us cooked, equalizing the power. I also engaged in cooking for myself more frequently. This also required me to set boundaries with my partner about what I would cook and not cook for him based on my available time and stress level. I also cooked or baked when no one else was home – a peaceful meditation of sorts. Additionally, I cooked for my female friends allowing myself to incorporate cooking into another aspect of self-care, socializing, and to build community around food.

In doing all of these things, I experienced a lot of benefits. For starters, by setting healthy boundaries for myself with my partner, I gained a sense of confidence and self-efficacy. Additionally, our relationship benefitted from having open and honest conversations about the pressures gender roles placed on both of us, not just myself. By taking time to engage with food individually, I started rebuilding my relationship with food and I was also able to manage stress by becoming fully engaged with the cooking process when I wasn’t under pressure to cook for someone else or within a certain time-frame. Lastly, I was able to foster my own feminist community by bringing together my friends over food.

These benefits around cooking and food aren’t unique to me. Researchers have started to examine the ways food can be beneficial for psychosocial health. For example, Famer and colleagues’ review on cooking interventions showed that cooking shows promise as a mental health intervention because it has positive effects on socialization, self-esteem, quality of life, and affect (Farmer, Touchton-Leonard, & Ross, 2018). Authors believe the effects lie in cooking’s ability to foster mindfulness and creativity (Hoque, 2015). Additionally, feminist cooks have been opening feminist restaurants since the 70s and 80s as a way of reclaiming cooking for themselves  (Cooke, 2019). Feminist restaurants have been important in building feminist communities of women as well as queer, especially lesbian, communities by giving women safe spaces to gather.

Feminist restaurants arose from the need of women to have their own separate domains in which to thrive, connect, and socialize safely because the traditional gendered division of labor isolated women in the home. However, authors note it has not always been that way – rather, prior to the 19^th century, women and men shared the burden of cooking as many more people were part of rural farming families (Flinn, 2019). Future research should examine the ways in which the family landscape is changing around food as it relates to gender roles and mental health. Additionally, as women begin to reclaim cooking as a feminist act of self-care, it is pertinent that men join as allies, taking on some of the burden of cooking and joining women in the positives that cooking can bring. Moreover, a feminist lens should be applied to research in the area of cooking and mental health, as this activity is heavily tied to the historical roots of what it means to be a woman and feminist movements.

By KYLIE STEINHILBER, M.S.

References:
Cooke, S. (2019, July 9). Reclaiming Cooking: The legacy of feminist restaurants. Retrieved from https://fembotmag.com/2019/07/09/reclaiming-cooking-the-legacy-of-feminist-restaurants/
Farmer, N., Touchton-Leonard, K., & Ross, A. (2018). Psychosocial benefits of cooking interventions: A systematic review. Health Education & Behavior, 45(2), 167-180.
Flinn, A. (2019, April 19). It’s time for women to reclaim the kitchen as an empowering place. Retrieved from https://www.wellandgood.com/good-food/cooking-feminism/
Hoque, F. (16 January, 2015). How cooking boosts creativity, mindfulness, and mastery. Retrieved from https://www.huffpost.com/entry/how-cooking-boost-creativ_b_6443504
Mayor, E. (2015). Gender roles and traits in stress and health. Frontiers in psychology, 6, 779. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00779

Encouraging Social Change in the Classroom: Tying Together Feminist Pedagogy and Critical Consciousness // Kristin Vierra

Within the educational system, I believe educators would agree it is important to
empower students and encourage them to implement social change. Unfortunately, many forms
of discrimination occur within our society. It is critical that educators collect methods to
encourage students to fight discrimination and work towards social change. With this in mind, I
would like to share my experience within my Psychology of Women’s course and the method
my professor used to empower my class to work towards social change.

As an undergraduate in a Psychology of Women course, I experienced a unique course
format. My professor encouraged our class to take charge of our learning. Instead of my
professor spending the entire course period lecturing course materials, she encouraged us to take
time to analyze course materials in small groups and consider real-life examples related to course
materials. At the same time, my professor stressed that each students opinions were valid. She
encouraged us to listen and cherish peers diverse viewpoints and experiences. In this course, I
was learning traditional course materials, but I was also learning to connect course material to
real-life experiences and respect and listen to my peers diverse backgrounds.

It wasn’t until later that I learned my professor had adopted a Feminist Pedagogical
teaching style. Feminist pedagogy can be interpreted as a collective laboratory in which students
and professors work together to unfold, interpret, decode research and evaluate the theory of
women’s experiences (Kimmel & Worell, 1997). In addition, the chance to hear peers diverse
viewpoints and experiences stimulates students ability to question privilege and oppression,

challenge myths pertaining to social groups (Sinacore & Boatwrigh, 2005).The idea behind
letting go of a traditional teaching style stems from the idea that perception does not occur in a
vacuum, instead perception is developed in social interactions. Students are granted the
opportunity to listen to diverse experiences and viewpoints, make sense of what peers share, and
develop a deeper understanding of a course topic (Dillenbourg, 2006). For example, after hearing
viewpoints from multiple students, and challenging myths, a student may shift from viewing the
pay gap as a fault of women traditionally picking lower-paying jobs and instead conclude that the
pay gap is due to institutional systems simply valuing the work of male employees more than
female employees. In sum, students are gaining the skills needed to question societal constructs
and institution systems that constitute social inquietly.

A term can be applied to the ability to question societal constructs and institution systems
that constitute social inquietly. That term being critical consciousness. Critical consciousness is
promoted best in groups in which facilitators hold non-oppressive relationships with participants
while discussing current sociopolitical circumstances in order to reveal institutional systems that
create inequality. (Campbell & MacPhail, 2002; Watts, Abdul-Adil, & Pratt, 2002).
Individuals who have developed critical consciousness skills have the capability to place
responsibility of social injustice on institutional systems instead of individuals who are victims
of inequality (Duncan-Andrade & Morrell, 2008). To better understand this, turn back to my
example of the student shifting their blame of the pay gap on women because, on average, they
chose jobs that pay less, and instead blaming the pay gap on institutional systems simply valuing
the work of male employees more than female employees.

So I will begin this section with a question: Why is it important to adopt a feminist pedagogical teaching method with the aim to foster critical consciousness skill in students? Well- developed critical consciousness skills are linked to a student’s motivation to make changes in their own lives as well as the lives of others (Robinson-Keilig, Hamill, Gwin-Vinsant, & Dashner, 2014; Sinacore & Boatwrigh, 2005). College, of course, aims to educate students and provide the knowledge needed to build a successful career. However, is it not also important to empower students while also motivating our future generations to create social change? With many institutional systems generating countless forms of inequality such as sexism, poverty, racial discrimination, etc., the goal of our educational system must focus on empowering college students to create social change.

By Kristin Vierra

Feminism, Anti-Misogyny and the Gay Community // Jared W. Boot, M.A.

Gay men need to discern what role their culture plays in maintaining the overarching influence of hegemonic masculinity’s misogyny in American culture. Kupers (2005) defines hegemonic masculinity as a form of masculinity that results in the “subjugation of women, gays, and men who exhibit feminine characteristics” (p. 717). Declaring oneself a feminist is not enough for gay men; “masculinity operates like whiteness: it demands control over any space it enters. It plants itself in the center and shoves anything coded as feminine to the edges” (Wright, 2018, p. 10). Just as White culture needs to be anti-racist, rather than merely pro-diversity, gay culture needs to be anti-misogynist, not just a community that declares itself in solidarity with feminism. Only after discerning the role gay men play in hegemonic masculinity, will the gay community begin to aid in dismantling the destructive impact of misogyny.

It is still prevalent in the gay community for men to use their masculinity in a way that maintains male privilege (Johnson & Samdahl, 2005). Johnson and Samdahl (2005) found this to be true in their ethnography at a gay bar. Despite being subject to hegemonic masculinity themselves, gay men frequently “othered” lesbian women using their masculinity to assert. This form of othering was not limited to women; this is also how gay men often interacted with each other.

Hunt, Fasoli, Carnaghi, and Cadinu (2016) noticed that when gay men experienced threats to their masculinity, they identified as more masculine and had less desire to interact with feminine men. The gay community has been subject to tremendous duress caused by hegemonic masculinity from the abuse of power of heterosexual males.

As aforementioned, hegemonic masculinity is a form of masculinity that perpetuates homophobia, so it is understandable that gay men would want to conform to hegemonic masculinity as a coping mechanism. However, becoming complicit in misogynistic hegemonic masculinity as a coping mechanism to reduce interpersonal distress will only perpetuate misogyny and further distress others. 

In the gay community, gay men need to explore redefining their masculinity in a way that allows them to express their full range of emotions (Karp, 2010). After gay men understand how they “both protect and reinforce the very norms they know are not salubrious for their health, then resistance can begin” (Way, 2011, p. 142). Hopefully, this resistance will encourage more gay men not to marginalize other men who express more femininity, since they are already at heightened risk for more psychosocial dysfunction (Hunt et al., 2016). Additionally, perhaps gay men can use this in their interactions with women like the lesbians at the gay bar mentioned above. After doing the critical work of deconstructing hegemonic masculinity and adopting a stance of anti-misogyny, maybe then gay men can more readily accept those of other genders as equal to them and, indeed, be feminists.

By Jared W. Boot, M.A.

References

Hunt, C. J., Fasoli, F., Carnaghi, A., & Cadinu, M. (2016). Masculine self-presentation and distancing from femininity in gay men: An experimental examination of the role of masculinity threat.
Psychology of Men & Masculinity, 17(1), 108-112. Johnson, C. W., & Samdahl, D. M. (2005). " The night they took over": Misogyny in a country- western gay bar. Leisure Sciences, 27, 331-348. Karp, D. R. (2010). Unlocking men, unmasking masculinities: Doing men's work in prison. The Journal of Men's Studies, 18(1), 63-83.
Kupers, T. A. (2005). Toxic masculinity as a barrier to mental health treatment in prison. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 61(6), 713-724.
Way, N. (2011). Deep secrets: The hidden landscape of boys' friendships. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Wright, K. (2018, January 15). The misogynist within. The Nation, 10-11.

Witchcraft as a Coping Skill and act of Self-care // Grace Fowler

“We are the granddaughters of the witches you weren’t able to burn.”  -Tish Thawer

You’ve probably seen this quote printed on pins and tote bags all over Pinterest and Instagram. For some women, this is more than a faux feminist fad. The reality is that women are identifying with the term “witch” more than ever before. 1.5 million people identified their religious practice as Wiccan, a huge increase from the 8,000 Wiccans identified in a 1990 survey of religious practice. Not everyone who identifies with being a witch practices Wicca, but in general, the focus of witchcraft is on the divine nature of feminine power. In a time where it can feel dangerous to be a woman (think #MeToo era), witchcraft serves as a way to empower women and create a sense of community.

Historically, witches have been a symbol of fear, at least in Western societies. By the 14^th century, Europeans were accusing and executing those accused of witchcraft. Although men were included in the mix, a disproportionate number of women were targeted. Particularly women who held positions of power or knowledge, like midwives. Seeing as how the human female body is still baffling to doctors and women are often misrepresented in medical research, it makes sense why those who had advanced knowledge of women’s health would be considered supernatural! However, modern representations of witches have sought to represent a wider swath of women. Shows like the 1960’s Bewitched that portrayed a witch as a benevolent character, to today’s American Horror Story, which portrays witches as complex female characters with a wide range of racial identities and ability levels, have all contributed to the growing canon around the witchy lifestyle.

When Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh was in the process of being nominated for his current position, women around the country joined together to place a spell to prevent his nomination. While witchcraft may not have stopped the nomination of an unsavory character, nor protected the courageous Dr. Christine Blasey Ford as she testified against him, it did give a community of women a sense of action. Witchcraft is like New Age community organizing: it gets people involved in a way that gives a sense of power back.

Whether the practice of witchcraft involves complex and meticulous spell casting, tarot card readings, or just owning a few crystals, it is clear that women are making sense of their political and social reality through these practices. Drawing on a long tradition of the mystical feminine power may be an excellent coping skill and act of self-care in the world where late-stage capitalism has eliminated the possibility of true free time. Witchcraft may not be for everyone, but it may be just the thing for the politically minded woman on the go.

-by Grace Fowler