is often seen to be in the kitchen. As this is a cooking blog I don’t totally disagree. But perhaps it should say that some women might find one of their places in the kitchen. Thankfully, for some of us, cooking is an option. But even those of us who actually like cooking, would not like to be confined to that one role.
August 9 is Women’s Day in South Africa. It commemorates a time when many women bravely took their place to protest injustice. In 1956 thousands of women marched to Parliament in Pretoria to demand an end to pass control. One of the phrases chanted was: You strike the woman, you strike a rock.
Sadly, few people seem to even know about the historic event which is commemorated. August has become “women’s month”, a chance to celebrate women, yet this is often done in a condescending or sentimental fashion. I can almost hear the marketers “Oh good, a chance to sell more make-up, shoes, chocolate, etc”. Well, okay, I’ll allow the extra chocolate sales.
With all these thoughts in my mind I began to think about which recipe book to explore this month. The Mary and Martha Cookbook would have been appropriate, but I have already used it. Cooking with the Housewives League is another possibility, but seemed somewhat contrary to the spirit of women’s day. Perhaps it is time to go with that book of chocolate recipes after all.
Or I could celebrate women’s month by not cooking at all.