- Sep 22, 2013
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The modern world is all about convenience and consumerism (e.g., eBay, Amazon.com, Facebook, eTrade, Home Depot, Netgrocer, etc.).
The development of kitchen-tools for cooking reflects humanity's stance on convenience and production and of course lifestyle.
So how do the genders differ on the value of symbolism of these kitchen-tools (e.g.,, food-blenders, coffee-makers, toaster-ovens, microwaves, hot-plates, etc., etc.)?
Here's a little 'vignette' about the fictional brutal male serpentine fascist emperor Serpentor (a genetically-engineered egomaniac from G.I. Joe comics) contending with the Hindu deity Kali (goddess of feminine fury and leadership) about the development of kitchen tools (from stones-and-slabs, to pitch-forks, to stone-ovens, to Indian botis, to toasters, to microwaves!).
I'm paying special attention to the Indian boti, since it's a very rustic and even deadly (but efficient) blade-and-board kitchen-tool used to cut foods on the floor with hand-and-foot and has been used by countless women in India, a nation with a culture possessing arguably various levels of gender-conflict controversy (e.g., dowry burnings).
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Serpentor was furious that the Hindu goddess Kali was still touting the rustic but now 'ancient' Indian boti, even though there were various much more 'sophisticated' kitchen-tools available on the market today and in stores such as Wal-Mart. Serpentor considered the boti very 'primitive' and even dangerous and wondered why a goddess would praise the 'item' as a 'gender-trophy.'
Kali believed the boti resembled her own furious war-weapon the scimitar (a curved-blade used like a machete). Since so many Indian women used the boti and labored in the kitchen with it to cut foods efficiently and diligently for their husbands and sons, they taught their daughters how to use one too! Kali believed such traditions which revealed the labors of the female gender should be honored and commemorated. Serpentor obviously disagreed.
Serpentor and Kali came to a compromise-agreement while debating about the boti and the modern blender. It was a gender-war resolution!
SERPENTOR: This boti looks like an ugly snake!
KALI: Women use it with great care and honor...you brute.
SERPENTOR: No; it looks like a snake on the floor, and it's dangerous!
KALI: It's not dangerous if used properly, and women in India know how to use it.
SERPENTOR: The boti is a 'relic,' and we must think of more attractive tools.
KALI: Like what? The deforesting chainsaw? Or perhaps the unsightly sledgehammer!
SERPENTOR: I'm not saying men's tools are more 'virtuous,' but the boti is a mistake.
KALI: The mistakes of human beings are often carried on the shoulders of women.
SERPENTOR: Well, I have no intention of 'blaming' women for the advent of genetics!
KALI: Genetic-cloning is arguably an abomination (like abortion), but it can be medical...
SERPENTOR: I'm not saying women are oblivious to 'medical aesthetics,' but botis are bad.
KALI: We can't simply ban all botis or dispute the fact that they're part of India...
SERPENTOR: In that case, I want a horror-film made about a psycho using a boti!
KALI: How about a 'nemesis of mine' (e.g., "the Evil Kali") murdering humans with botis?
SERPENTOR: That sounds promising...
KALI: That's why I prefer the uncontroversial modern kitchen-blender, which is safe/sturdy.
SERPENTOR: I love the blender! My girlfriend makes me Sunday brunches with it!
KALI: Let's agree then (great Serpentor) that the blender will heal our 'artistic wounds.'
====
The development of kitchen-tools for cooking reflects humanity's stance on convenience and production and of course lifestyle.
So how do the genders differ on the value of symbolism of these kitchen-tools (e.g.,, food-blenders, coffee-makers, toaster-ovens, microwaves, hot-plates, etc., etc.)?
Here's a little 'vignette' about the fictional brutal male serpentine fascist emperor Serpentor (a genetically-engineered egomaniac from G.I. Joe comics) contending with the Hindu deity Kali (goddess of feminine fury and leadership) about the development of kitchen tools (from stones-and-slabs, to pitch-forks, to stone-ovens, to Indian botis, to toasters, to microwaves!).
I'm paying special attention to the Indian boti, since it's a very rustic and even deadly (but efficient) blade-and-board kitchen-tool used to cut foods on the floor with hand-and-foot and has been used by countless women in India, a nation with a culture possessing arguably various levels of gender-conflict controversy (e.g., dowry burnings).
====
Serpentor was furious that the Hindu goddess Kali was still touting the rustic but now 'ancient' Indian boti, even though there were various much more 'sophisticated' kitchen-tools available on the market today and in stores such as Wal-Mart. Serpentor considered the boti very 'primitive' and even dangerous and wondered why a goddess would praise the 'item' as a 'gender-trophy.'
Kali believed the boti resembled her own furious war-weapon the scimitar (a curved-blade used like a machete). Since so many Indian women used the boti and labored in the kitchen with it to cut foods efficiently and diligently for their husbands and sons, they taught their daughters how to use one too! Kali believed such traditions which revealed the labors of the female gender should be honored and commemorated. Serpentor obviously disagreed.
Serpentor and Kali came to a compromise-agreement while debating about the boti and the modern blender. It was a gender-war resolution!
SERPENTOR: This boti looks like an ugly snake!
KALI: Women use it with great care and honor...you brute.
SERPENTOR: No; it looks like a snake on the floor, and it's dangerous!
KALI: It's not dangerous if used properly, and women in India know how to use it.
SERPENTOR: The boti is a 'relic,' and we must think of more attractive tools.
KALI: Like what? The deforesting chainsaw? Or perhaps the unsightly sledgehammer!
SERPENTOR: I'm not saying men's tools are more 'virtuous,' but the boti is a mistake.
KALI: The mistakes of human beings are often carried on the shoulders of women.
SERPENTOR: Well, I have no intention of 'blaming' women for the advent of genetics!
KALI: Genetic-cloning is arguably an abomination (like abortion), but it can be medical...
SERPENTOR: I'm not saying women are oblivious to 'medical aesthetics,' but botis are bad.
KALI: We can't simply ban all botis or dispute the fact that they're part of India...
SERPENTOR: In that case, I want a horror-film made about a psycho using a boti!
KALI: How about a 'nemesis of mine' (e.g., "the Evil Kali") murdering humans with botis?
SERPENTOR: That sounds promising...
KALI: That's why I prefer the uncontroversial modern kitchen-blender, which is safe/sturdy.
SERPENTOR: I love the blender! My girlfriend makes me Sunday brunches with it!
KALI: Let's agree then (great Serpentor) that the blender will heal our 'artistic wounds.'
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