Stereotypes In The Kitchen Summary



Stereotyping has been around for as long as people have been around. It's a way that people use to classify other people for better or worse. Often times the word stereotype has negative connotations and often people consider stereotypes to be false traits of a group, but what about the times when a stereotype accurately represents a member of the group being stereotyped. Does the stereotype hurt them? What if someone breaks the stereotype?

Out of the four stories, I have chosen Tur keys in the Kitchen by Dave Barry and The Myth of the Latin Woman by Judith Cofer. Both talk about stereotypes but in a different way. Barry addresses men and women and their roles in the kitchen from a man's perspective, while Cofer addresses the stereotypes

From the tone of the essay, she thinks of these as negative traits of her people, but can she really speak for all of the latin women about this stereotype? What about all the Latin women who embrace the idea of being a “Hot Tamale” and look at it as a point of pride, as part of their culture? As a culture, Latinos are known to be more fun and more relaxed compared to other cultures. There is nothing wrong with being more low key and enjoying life. This does not have to have a negative meaning; certain cultures such as Japan and Korea are known to be more uptight and workaholics who never relax, and they may also appreciate the qualities that Latin Americans represent, without having judgments about

Barry uses his story about Thanksgiving and reflects on our society’s views about gender. Just as Coffer is attempting to speak for all Latinas, Barry is trying to speak for all men. Not all men care about not being good in the kitchen, and not all women are good at cooking, but Barry generalizes. Though he writes in a comedic tone, he is still stereotyping men and women. For example, he states, “I would no more enter that kitchen than I would attempt to park a nuclear aircraft carrier, but my wife, who runs her own business, glides in very casually and picks up exactly the right kitchen implement and starts doing exactly the right thing without receiving any instructions whatsoever” (pg.73). Just because his wife happens to be good in the kitchen does not mean that every wife in America is good at cooking, or even wants to be good in the kitchen. In many cases the man does cooking in a lot of