Women in the Kitchen: The Performativity of Modern Living

Abstract

It may be presumed that today's ‘modern’ woman is no longer tethered to the domestic realm. However, at the end of 2020, a UN report stated that as a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic, women were spending an increased amount of time within the home, setting back gender-equality progress by ‘at least 25 years’ (Lungumbu & Butterly, 2020) (UN Women, 2020). This paper will identify and examine the complexities surrounding the ‘modern’ woman’s relationship with her kitchen and the roles of women in today’s modern homes. Does the ‘modern’, open-plan kitchen design construct domestic roles within the house – are they as labour-saving as we may think? The paper will analyse promotional imagery from the 20th and 21st centuries as well as elements of popular culture. This analysis will occur alongside the main research source of the paper, which is a focus group detailing the experiences of five women examining their relationships with their kitchens. Open to all identifying genders, sexualities, and age groups, that the 5 participants who responded to the call are cis women in heterosexual relationships perhaps corroborates the traditionally gendered aspect of domestic labour. This paper will also cover the performativity of managing a work/life balance, how the advent of open-plan living spaces has affected the management of domestic duty, the performative elements of modern living and finally, the power of female dominance in the kitchen and the cultural capital it holds. The aim of the paper is to identify key themes within the subject of ‘Women in the Kitchen’ and to extract potential directions for further study. Regarding future research, it would be beneficial to gain insight from different types of households – single parent and households including members of the wider LGBTQIA+ community. The benefit of this would be to further examine the felt and the perceived nature of women in the kitchen from different viewpoints.