Are we worthy of our kitchens?

This is an interesting article by Christine Rosen. Are we buying more and more kitchen stuff in the hope that it will improve our home lives, while we should just be spending more time at home using the things we already have?

The argument that domestic appliances have not eased the burden of housekeeping for women seems strangely familiar. I'm sure it's part of Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique, but I can't be sure because it's a long time since I read that, and I didn't finish it anyway. Friedan took the argument much further, though, to suggest that the production of all these fancy gadgets for household chores was a deliberate attempt to oppress women by keeping them in the home, working harder than ever.

However, Rosen raises some thought-provoking points. Our culture seems to be more and more keen on the trappings of domesticity - fancy appliances, beautiful kitchens, glossy cookbooks - but less and less keen on actual domesticity. People are working longer hours, buying more take-away food, eating together as a family less often. Appliances are supposed to make our lives easier, but we are just as busy as ever. Duncan wrote an interesting post about iPods, and how we almost seem to be afraid of silence these days. (I do have to say here that my iPod is very handy, because sometimes it's dangerous to leave me alone with my thoughts, but I didn't pay for it. My brother won it for me. Thanks Tim!) Do we really believe that these kinds of material possessions will make our lives easier? Will I actually get more work done once my shiny and speedy new MacBook arrives?

I think there's something about the picture of perfect domesticity that we are served up from magazines and lifestyle TV that appeals to a lot of people. It seems so peaceful... clean... tidy... orderly. If only we had the right house, or the right gadgets, we could live like that too. I know I get caught up in this kind of thing too. It's often stationery for me. If I go to Officeworks and get a whole bunch of fancy file boxes and folders, I'll be able to keep my life and work in order. I don't covet $6000 Aga stoves, but I do like granite benchtops (good for making pasta and pastry!) and those pretty blue Breville appliances and saucepans. And I have collected a pile of Nigella Lawson homewares for my glory cupboard. I've even got a copy of The Penguin Book of Housekeeping. I've consulted it once - I wanted to see how the author suggested folding fitted sheets. They can be so tricky! I guess it's all this kind of stuff that prompted one of my friends to tell me once that I'm "too Martha Stewart to be a feminist"...

But anyway, I found this article fascinating. Domestic bliss is a huge marketing tool at the moment, but it's something that many people just don't have. I don't think buying more stuff will solve our problems, though.