Turkeys In The Kitchen Summary

In “Turkeys in the Kitchen”, Dave Barry discusses the stereotype that men are useless in the kitchen. He did this in a humorous way, making jokes throughout the essay. The way he approached this was brilliant. When heavy topics are approached in such a light manner, people tend to be less offended, and more open to the message that is being put across. The fact that Dave is a man, also makes it more acceptable to talk about males in this way. If a woman were to talk about how useless men are in the kitchen, it would be seen as unfair. He explained the stereotypes in a way that almost every person in the United States could relate to, because he used such a common event. Most Americans have been right in his place, so it is easy to relate to

his experience on Thanksgiving Day.
Men and women are different.

In the home they tend to have different roles. Most women, as suggested in “Turkeys in the Kitchen”, take on the role of caregiving and providing meals for the family. Mothers are typically responsible for the nurture of their children. Fathers are usually responsible for providing the necessities of life and protection for their families. This does not make them unequal. Most people believe that there is no difference between equality and sameness. This is incorrect. For example, two hands are similar to each other but not exactly the same. In fact, they are exact opposites, but they complement each other and are suited to each other. Working together, they are stronger. The same can be said for men and women together. They are to work together to complete each other rather than to compete with each

other.
Throughout the text, Dave Barry discusses how men and women are unequal in the kitchen. He blames this on the fact that women were trained in home economics, while the men were trained in shop and learned things that they now have no use for (74). Women typically are more qualified in the kitchen than their husbands. Most mothers teach their daughters to cook in preparation for them becoming mothers themselves. Young girls are told that men want to marry a woman that can cook for him, so they learn to cook in hopes that this will help them to get married. If a boy is to be taught to cook, it is most likely by the father, and he would usually teach the son how to grill. This cooking is not done in the kitchen, which is most likely why it is taught to young men rather than young women.
Most men do know how to cook at least some meals in the kitchen. Dave Barry admitted, “I think most males rarely prepare food for others, and when they do, they have their one specialty dish (spaghetti, in my case) that they prepare maybe twice a year in a very elaborate production, for which they expect to be praised as if they had developed, right there in the kitchen, a cure for heart disease” (73). It is insinuated that men expect praise if they succeed in preparing a meal. This does not support gender equality. This suggests that men deserve praise for a task that is completed by a women every day. Neither gender deserves praise for completing a task that is commonly done by the opposite gender without praise.
Although most men do not do well in the kitchen, they do not have much hope of progression either.

As Dave Barry explained, if a man attempts to help in the kitchen, the woman gives him the simplest task, and often in the end takes the duty away from him. Most women feel that a man is incompetent in the kitchen and would not be any help while preparing a meal, so they send him away, rather than explain what he has done wrong and attempt to help him to correct his mistake. Women are not the only ones guilty of doing this. If a woman has car troubles, most likely a man will be the one to fix it. If the woman asks to help, the man will likely tell her to simply hand him tools. Similarly to Dave’s situation when he did not know which one the turnip was, the woman likely would not know which tool to give him. Eventually the man will tell the woman that he can manage by himself without her help (74). If a man or woman is not allowed to help their partner, they can never learn for themselves how to do that task.

Dave Barry’s approach to gender stereotypes neither inhibits nor helps to progress gender equality. His approach was passive, and simply called attention to the matter. A more effective approach would be to suggest a way that men and women could help the progression of gender equality, and to end the stereotypes. The most productive way to approach this would be for him to talk to his spouse and to figure out a way that he could help to alleviate her duties in the kitchen. Without

communication, there is no way to help the situation, and nothing will get better.
Although Dave calls attention to the gender stereotypes, they still happen in his own home. At the end of his essay, he has his wife read it and she tells him her thoughts. The text finishes with her making waffles (74). This shows that some things do not change. Although his wife was aware of the gender stereotypes of cooking, she still made the food. There are times that stereotypes do not change because a person is aware of it. She may be more accepting of help in the kitchen, but it does not change that she still has the most experience cooking. Sometimes stereotypes are just facts that do not change.