One of the things about young Singapore women is that they do not cook. It’s pretty obvious. Out of 10 young Singaporean women out there, you would be lucky to find 1 do can actually cook (putting chicken nuggets in the microwave and cooking instant noodles or rice do not count).
Some foreigners I know find this very strange as in their countries, most women do cook. I now understand why Singapore women do not cook. In Singapore, cooking is sexist! Yes that’s right; cooking is sexist so if a woman cook, she is promoting sexism.
That’s the feeling I get when I read that Association of Women for Action and Research (Aware) intend to give its first tongue-in-cheek sexism award to "honour" Mr. Desmond Choo as the person who has done the greatest disservice to gender equality this year. His offence?
In his election speech (Choo is a candidate from the People's Action Party in the recent General Elections), he said that a resident told him that choosing an MP is like choosing a wife and if your wife is unable to cook, there's no point. Choo was criticised for being sexist though he said the statement was taken out of context.
Personally I don’t really care if it was taken out of context because well…I don’t really see what’s wrong with it? The resident told Choo one must choose a wife who is able to cook things for you. Is that so bad? Is wanting a wife who can cook a sexist remark?
According to Aware, it obviously is. For so people who wonder why young Singaporean women don’t cook, this is the reason. Cooking is a sexist activity so no women should cook!
6 comments:
It's fine to appreciate a wife who can cook, the minister's comments implied that women who cannot cook are not worth being married to, which is offensive. There's nothing wrong with women cooking, or men cooking for that matter. Suggesting that it is someone's duty and role to cook is akin to denying the freedom to choose. That is sexist, I'm afraid. In this day and age I am equally against suggesting that men should always always pay for things, be the sole provider etc etc. Many sporean women reap the benefits of enlightened gender policies and yet still expect men to behave in old world ways when it comes to things that benefit them. Consistency please.
Actually Choo is not a minister. He is the failed PAP candidate for Hougang.
And I don't see why it is sexist to say husbands and wives have different roles and duties in a marriage. Is it that wrong to say cooking is the traditional duty of a wife? It’s the true and even if most Singaporeans don’t follow it, it is STILL the traditional duty of a wife. That’s not sexist, it’s just a fact.
Well, seeing your post and ghost's comment helped me understand how Desmond made his mistake, at least.
Cooking isn't sexist, my dear, nor are there any women (I know) who refused to learn to cook because of feminism. Don't twist the meaning at your convenience. The sexism is in the man/father-in-law turning their nose up at a woman who chooses to spend their time on something other than cooking. Like Anon said, it's about freedom and choice. It's about men who think their own expectations and wants determine the 'worth' of a wife, and that they become factual simply cos it's been happening long enough. If you need more help to see the context, imagine a woman/mother-in-law going "there's no point to a husband who can't give the wife a luxury lifestyle".
Cooking is just a skill, why do people have to look so deep into it. If you want to learn how to cook, you just learn it. Doesn't matter how other people look it. Everything else is just fake.
The original statement by the resident is that he told Mr. Choo that choosing an MP is like choosing a wife and if your wife is unable to cook, there's no point. Now you cannot object to that statement (saying its sexism) and then at the same time say that it is not sexist for a wife to cook.
That makes no sense. The original statement by the resident is that a wife must be able to cook. If you say that’s sexist, that means you object to a wife cooking because it is sexist. If you say a wife cooking is not sexist, then what’s wrong with what Mr. Choo said?
If you are like Anon 1:35pm (about freedom and choice) then you should have a caveat in your objection. Something along the line of, “I object to his statement because it is sexist unless (here is the caveat) it is the wife’s choice to cook, her husband or father-in-law do not expect her to cook, and it is her choice and her choice only to cook for the family.”
Since all the objections I heard so far do not say that, just stating that Mr. Choo’s statement is sexist…
Essentially you don't find his comment sexist because you accept the reasoning beneath it (calling it a "fact" and "traditional duty" of a wife) but the point is that people don't agree that cooking IS a traditional or necessary of 'a wife'. It's just something in a home that someone needs to do, and this someone doesn't need, nor should it need, to be the wife.
tl;dr: You are welcome to say that they are wrong in calling Mr Choo sexist. They'll probably just call you sexist too. I would be the first to agree with them.
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