Rude Awakening

I've been crossing paths with some serious feminist issues these last weeks. First it was the porn film, now it's kitchen design!

I'm doing a project for my documentary class on cooking shows and their faux-realism. I'm trying to present an evolution in cooking shows concurrent with the evolution of feminist theory. Julia Child = good, Martha Rosler's Semiotics of the Kitchen = angry, Martha Stewart = bad. The point is, I'm reading an article in a book about 'The Making of a Modern Kitchen'. Sexism goes so far back and is rooted so deeply that we can point to it in the design of kitchens in the 1920-30s. This is fascinating. The idea of the 'fitted kitchen' to make everything easier, to make a woman better at staying IN the home.This is very disheartening, but it makes perfect sense.

Who have (for the most part until recently) been designers? Men. What did the men of the period want? Women to be in the home, taking care of kids, and making meals. The kitchen was reconceived in the periods when men wanted women back into the home, but this new innovation was presented under the premise of 'bettering the function of the kitchen'. I'm surprised I had never entered kitchen design into the equation of sexism and oppression until now.

I feel slightly weighed down by all this feminist awareness.. and admittedly, a bit annoyed/frustrated/disappointed in people's reactions this reality. I guess I can't expect every man around me to be passionate about the cause of women... but some kind of sign of wanting to understand, or acknowledging their lack of understand would be nice.

Why do I want that? Why does it matter to me what other people feel about feminism, especially when my own feelings about it are mixed?

I need to find satisfaction in introducing people to ideas, not of convincing them of anything.

Just because I was cynical at 13, doesn't mean everyone else was... :)