Get back in the kitchen, huh?

Ah New Zealand Herald.  Continuing your usual work I see.

An article about how young women eat a lot of takeaways.  Now this could have been a fairly balanced article. It could have made sense. And it could have been worth reading. Instead it was in the NZ Herald.  Intentional or not, the article portrays women as being the ones who are supposed to be at home cooking the meals, but are instead just thinking of themselves and eating takeaways.

Not only that, some of them claim to be good cooks!  The impertinence of it all!!

Well, fuck you NZH.  I, a male, am the one who cooks pretty much all the meals in our household. And yes, we also eat takeaways at least once a week – usually only once.  Mostly because we like it, and sometimes because I just can’t be fucked cooking. Also because it is a treat for us as we eat (mostly) healthy food the rest of the time.

And you know maybe, just maybe, these women eat takeaways at least once a week because they are so fucking tired from spending so much energy

• trying to earn the same amount as a man by doing extra work
• having to fight all the bullshit media outlets like you throw at them
• the utterly draining and mind-fuckingly incessant message that they Just. Aren’t. Good. Enough.

to really give a shit about cooking the meals they know they can.

And for an added bonus, there is the underlying shaming in the article for all us fatties, all of us who don’t eat right, who aren’t what someone else expects us to be.  Shock horror – she’s eating takeaways, Well holy fucking shit, it is going to bring about the downfall of society.

Prof Collins challenged young women to open the pantry and fridge door instead of a takeaway menu.

Here’s another idea. Challenge young women (those who have a partner) to get their partner to cook them a fucking meal.

After that rant, I’ll give some ground.  I feel it could be that the study is about women’s health – which is of course a good thing.  But the delivery of the results, the comments and the reporting turn this whole thing into a fucking “get back into the kitchen where you belong, bitches”.

And I will give NZH some credit.  This is what was said over at http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/restaurants-bars/young-women-eating-takeaways-once-a-week/story-fn93ypt9-1226254032046

To mark Australia’s Healthy Weight Week from January 22-29, Prof Collins challenged young women to open the pantry and fridge door instead of a takeaway menu.

“It can be fast and easy to cook healthy versions of takeaway dishes at home with a bit of planning ahead and some basic cooking skills,” she said.

Healthy Weight Week aims to motivate 18 to 25-year-old women to commit to looking and feeling their best.

Here’s an idea:  how about aiming to encourage women to feel valued for who they are by not having any of this fucking shit!  How about committing to health-consciousness instead of this fucking fat-shaming bullshit.

As for the survey itself, it was of 200 women.  In other words, with a sample size like that, the entire fucking thing is worthless.  Despite this, what the media didn’t report was that the study also (primarily) found was that 65% of respondents made new year resolutions to eat healthier.

So folks – if you want women to “look and feel their best”, here is a tip. Stop shaming. Stop expecting people to fit into your narrow fucking idea of what looks good.  Stop presuming that being fat is bad – or even unhealthy. And stop fucking expecting women to get back into the fucking kitchen.

*Spits on the ground and walks away*

Oh – and aren’t you glad I didn’t even get started on those stock photos?