[ SECRET POST #4706 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #4706 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 01 pages, 31 secrets from Secret Submission Post #674.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

It annoys me too, for a couple reasons... One, it feels like a clichéd trait people give characters to make them more relatable. Two, this happens to female characters more often male characters due to some weird mix of gender expectations (because women are supposed to know how to cook, amirite?), sexism (traditionally feminine skills are undervalued) and bad writing (so the heroine can't cook because she's 'not like other girls ').


Kind of like how the heroine haaaaates needlework and only likes cool stuff, so it's OK she sucks at it because needlework is dumb.

[cloudtrader]

I agree, it is a small annoyance when I see it, too. I mean, I hate cooking, but I CAN do it, if necessary. I'm not a gourmet chef, but I'll at least make something edible if I have to. Can anyone in real life just blatantly ignore how bad their own food is over and over again? No, I don't believe it.

Icon used ironically. (I couldn't make cupcakes that looked like that without a lot of extensive effort that I'll probably never care to put in.)

OP

[(Anonymous)]

Well put! Like I seriously wonder how some are these character are even alive;;

[(Anonymous)]

Same here! I don't like to cook, but I can. I'm just lazy and get no pleasure out of the process. Now, baking, that's a different story, because it's mostly frivolous and optional. Like those cupcakes, mmmm. I would happily make those.

[(Anonymous)]

It's a bit different with cooking because it's considered a basic life skill whereas needlework is less vital in the modern world (granted, we have plenty of restaurants, take-out, and frozen dinners to keep cooking from being absolutely necessary for survival in many places around the world, but it's still considered a normal thing to know how to do).

[(Anonymous)]

I'm talking specifically about needlework in settings where it's not a hobby, it IS a basic life skill because otherwise you can't make or repair clothing. For example, medieval (or medievalish) settings where you need clothing to keep warm and protect yourself from the elements, but there's no such thing as buying clothing off the rack because clothes aren't mass manufactured, they're made by hand. So needlework in that setting IS absolutely necessary for survival, and it's a 100% normal thing to know how to do.

[(Anonymous)]

Yes, exactly. Modern audiences can relate to the character not liking needlework because they have never lived in a world where they needed to know how to do that and therefore can think it's "dumb." I just don't think most people feel that way about cooking, even though they are not going to literally starve for not knowing how. It's a thing they are at least familiar with and are more likely to run into situations where knowing how to cook makes things easier since humans get hungry more often than we pop seams and loose buttons.

[(Anonymous)]

Exactly. It's a silly, fussy hobby to most people because they don't live in a time where people had to make their own clothes, or have it made for them by someone who DID know this valuable life skill. It annoys me on many levels, I guess.

[(Anonymous)]

Needlework IS dumb. Or at least mind numbingly pointless, hems and repair aside.

[(Anonymous)]

It's fine if you don't enjoy it, but personally, I like cross stitch and embroidery and find it very soothing. A lot of people do.

[(Anonymous)]

It's not pointless, though. Remember, the adults in this thread are talking about a setting where people must know how to sew in order to make their own clothes. Hemming and repairs might be mind numbingly boring, but that's not the same thing as being pointless.

OP

[(Anonymous)]

Yes, exactly that!

[(Anonymous)]

There's a lot of "not like other girls" vibe with Lorelia from Gilmore Girls not knowing how to cook. I never thought of it that way, but I think you're right.

[(Anonymous)]

Yes, but within the context of Lorelai's narrative, it makes sense - she was brought up in Hartford where her family had cooks and maids, so presumably she never had to learn to cook - and then she lived in a potting shed with her baby while working at the Independence Inn where IIRC she ate via the kitchen staff? I'll agree that later she could have learnt, but between a full time job and raising a kid...

[(Anonymous)]

Strongly seconding this. Lorelai was always quirky, but her not being able to or bothering to cook was a very natural and understandable part of her personality and life experience.