JJ Vincent looks at outdated stereotypes in advertising: Pretty food in the kitchen? A woman is cooking it. Junk food, sloppy food, on the grill? Chances are a man suddenly appears.
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So there was just an ad on for grills and grilling accessories, featuring men grilling. No women in sight. Meat, sunshine, comraderie, smoke. Since the sound was off, I could not hear the voice-over, but I suspect it was deep, gruff, and manly, as is typical for these commercials.
But not a women in sight for the whole of 30 seconds.
This reminded me of a roommate I used to have. He and most of our friends had a code: women do not grill. They do not touch the grill. They do not touch meat on the grill. If there should be a few vegetables on the grill for some traitorous friend who believed that a meal needed more than meat and starch, they were not to touch that either. Not the tools, not the sauce, not the charcoal, not the lid. The grill was a Man Zone. On one memorable occasion when a woman picked up tongs and turned a nearly-burnt chicken breast, four voices hollered, “She’s touching the grill! She’s touching the meat!” And my roommate came bolting out of the apartment, turned the chicken back over, and told her not to touch it, that he had just turned it, and that women were not allowed to touch the grill.
For the record, I don’t care who touches the grill, as long as the food is cooked.
Since I saw that ad, I’ve been thinking about other ads I’ve seen for grilling, and cooking in general. If it involves the kitchen, common kitchen tools, family meals, desserts, good, wholesome nutrition—it’s going to feature a woman, almost every time. If it involves grilling, tailgating, campfire cooking, BBQ—it’s gonna be a man. Healthy or pretty food—women. Junk food, sloppy food—men.
Once again, thank you, advertising, for reinforcing outdated stereotypes.
Plenty of men love (or at least like) to cook and be in the kitchen, and at least some will admit it. I thank the rise of celebrity chefs for that. BAM! Plenty of women cook out, and there are more than a few female teams on the competitive BBQ circuit. Men are completely capable of cooking full meals, packing lunches, baking cookies, handling nutritional needs, pouring cereal, converting bread to toast, everything that women are seen doing in commercials.
So why don’t we see more of this in popular media?
My guess is that many of the people running the advertising are still locked into the idea that woman are the primary shoppers and decision makers in a family, and that they will mirror what their own do. That they trust their own. That they connect with their own. Ditto with men, assumed to be the primary consumers of grills, steaks, and brats. (We’ll ignore for a moment the lack of ethnic diversity in commercials.)
Maybe I’m crazy, but if a cereal or soup or a frozen-in-bag meal or a set of pans or tools looks good to a consumer, I doubt that they would not buy it because of the gender of the person in the commercial. A company might even pick up some customers if they turned things on their heads and gave a woman some meat tongs and a ribeye and a guy a big steaming bowl of mac-and-cheese or a homemade birthday cake.
And I might be going out on a limb here, but maybe some men who are reluctant to pick up a whisk might do so if they saw more of themselves doing it. Not just one on a cooking show, but in everyday, shown-repeatedly-everywhere commercials. Let’s trade in some of the emaciated slacks and shirts modelmen in guy’s magazines and replace them with burly, bellied, bearded dudes making toaster pastries for their daughters, or a guy in coveralls using some good olive oil in his pasta. How about Mr. Shirt-and-Tie extolling the virtues of how this dish soap works great on the glass dish he baked a lasagna in, or how these are the easiest, tastiest break-and-bake-cookies ever (while a bunch of his buddies devour them).
Heck, maybe, just maybe, he pulls a Mrs. So-and-so’s apple pie out of the oven while a women hollers from outside that the burgers are ready, and could he please grab the ketchup?
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photo by basheertome / flickr
Years ago a neighbor mentions he always wanted to roast a whole lamb for Easter, I’m married and living in the suburbs, and I say “I can do that”. The bride and the rest of them look at me slightly stunned.. I go on “I’ve done it several times, but I’m not sure I’m down for killing a lamb here in the burbs”. Blah, blah… The lamb is on the rotisserie going around and around… Men and boys are watching it mesmerized– fire meat ooh…. For hours at a time, 200 #s of charcoal and a few wheelbarrows full of… Read more »
I don’t dispute that men are picking up whisks, pans, etc. I just wish that more would admit to it, especially if it is something they enjoy, are good at, etc. I’m not saying that those in the business of selling grill should not use men in their advertising. But why not use some women as well? Or a mix of people? Ditto with kitchen items. Yes,advertisers tend to stick with, “If it works, why change it?” But some of our most iconic (or at least memorable) ads have come from thinking non-traditionally. How many more people think of Geico,… Read more »
What man do you know who cooks and doesn’t cop to it???
Not to bust your balls- I discussed this on the call-in Friday– that
I’m tired of these tropes and how repeating them promotes them…
The fact is that in the majority of heterosexual couples, of my observation, if there is grilling to be done– the man does the grilling… For similar reasons chainsaws and snow lowers are flogged to men….
Top Chef, Master Chef, Hells’ Kitchen to name a few popular shows that show men in the role of cooks and great cooks at that. 2 of the three cooks at my facility are men. I don’t see men not admitting it but more so it’s simply something that they do and never gave it any thought as to it being a gender thing.
In my house, I’ve always been the better cook whereas my wife exceeds my talents in baking. The kitchen has always been our gathering place for family and guests.
J.A. Drew Diaz, I’ve known (know) more than a few. Grilling, bbqing, making chili, some cast iron cooking, they’ll cop to these. But they mutter in whispers that they baked the cake, or they’ve let their wife or girlfriend take full credit for something I’ve literally watched them make, because among their peers, cooking is what women or, pardon the languages, “fags” do. Much more prevalent here than where I lived in California.
i have to tell you one of my hunting buddies: a handicapper of horses, rider of a harley, killer of fish and baseball historian brags about baking & does it pretty much ever weekend.
I’ll be going over Sunday to watch football and slurp down Pete’s famous Onion Soup…
It is just so tiresome…
Why don’t we discuss the destruction of the middle class- a real problem– instead.
I doubt Alabama has as much to do with the attitude as does your circle of friends…
Watch the ads for Father’s Day! Grills and tools! And I’m okay with it. But that’s what a lot of people do, men tend to BBQ more. Go to garage sales … men dart to the tools and the women look and touch everything else INCLUDING things they will have their husband build, repair, hang and paint. Not that I don’t agree with you about advertizing but what’s so bad about guys being the ones that commonly BBQ? I guess it would be different if they depicted the female as being inept but the ads simply show men doing it.… Read more »
Hi JJ Vincent
Than you for an interesting article.
And while you write about American men :” Plenty of men love (or at least like) to cook and be in the kitchen, and at least some will admit it”.
I can assure you that for Euroeean men, cooking is a part of any man’s “seduction rituals”.
They invite a woman home for dinner and serve deliouse home made food!
Men can cook. They cook better than me.
Men do cook,and this way to give love to a woman,men,friends and family is one of the best way to express love.
Sorry about my typos..
Iben, no worries! Happy to get another point of view!