Barbecue season is here - and it's showing up Britain's gender divide |
Barbecue season is here. Across the country, gardens have become arenas of ritualised male performance. Aprons, often sloganed, and occasionally offensive, are tied. Tongs are brandished and flames coaxed into life. For a few brief, smoky hours, the nation’s dads take charge of the cooking. It’s great, but also revealing.
This week I asked my class a simple question: who runs the barbecue at home? Every single hand went up for “dad”. Then a second question: how many of those same dads cook regularly during the rest of the week? About a tenth of the hands remained raised.
It’s the great culinary contradiction of modern Britain. Though the UK has among the world’s smaller cooking gender gaps according to Gallup, women cook on average 0.6 more meals per household each week – that’s compared to 0.3........