Cooking and femininity

Everyday cooking in the home is still women's work. This should not be understood merely from the perspective of female subjugation. Food is an important expression of identity, and the giving of food seems to be closely related to femininity and the subjective experience of being a woman. Cooking may also be understood as an expression of what I term “a rationality of the gift,” which stems from a specific kind of work; production of use-values in the home. This rationality contrasts with “the rationality of the commodity,” which stems from production in the market. Women's present situation of double work points to an ambiguous position, as they are commuting between different realms of society. The story of Babette's Feast by Karen Blixen suggests that such bordercrossings or mediations carry creative potentials, especially when it comes to food.