Eng 106 essay 1 final - Grade: A+ PDF

Preview

Summary

IT'S ABOUT FOOD AND SELF DISCOVERY...

Description

Hira Shakeel Professor Camila Barbeito ENG 106 - A3 1 May 2019 Empowered Women, Empower Women If there is anything which truly convenes a melting pot of diversity and an appealing fusion of love, spice and chatter, it’s food. Food can be described as any substance that is consumed to provide nutritional support to an organism, but to some people, food is much more than sustenance - a medium to fuel mind, body and the soul. Closing your eyes, and thinking about your favourite meal growing up, chances are that along with its appearance, aroma, and taste, you can clearly remember the emotions it roused and the people it reminds of you. From the journey of a little baby chuckling on bits of warm cereal to a growing child chipping away whatever comes in hand and to an adult exploring and understanding food with the wealth of life experiences, food really has an intimate connection to life. It is an experience that links memories, happiness, relationships and tastes in our mind. It was one of the pioneers of French gastronomy writing, Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, who penned the following: “Tell me what you eat and I’ll tell you who you are.” Food is worth more than just its taste, it’s a part of who we are and is a key to self-discovery. For many, food defines the very freckle of their existence, an epitome of how they move forward. And here, the experiences of women are pivotal to our discussion. For many women, the road to selfexploration through food collates as a cherished grandeur of the very definition of their dreams, of their role and of their power in this society.

Nora Ephron, an American journalist, writer and film-maker was committed to empowering women and she achieved this goal by using food as her ammunition. During the 1960s, a time where lack of self confidence was common in women, this feminist writer brought about the concept of self discovery through food by presenting food as a form of social power in her article “My Cookbook Crushes.” The article is a beautiful depiction of Nora’s relationship with food in which she describes her way through cookbooks in the course of her culinary career. As Ephron moves from one chapter of her life to another, she associates herself with different cookbooks which teach and guide her through the various tapestries of life. Ephron begins the article by discussing her life in New York City, and talking about her adventures with cookbooks. She describes her first cookbook as “enormous, a tome, with a gloomy reddish-brown binding” which made her feel “wildly sophisticated.” Through the cookbook, “The Flavor of France,” gifted by her friend Jane, young Ephron learns to cook Chamberlain’s “simple and foolproof” recipes, starting her journey of self- discovery. Many books teach the mechanics of cooking and even inspire us to cook; however, not many dwell on the kitchen’s ability to be a place of awakening and joy. Cooking her way through Julia Child’s “Mastering the Art of French Cooking,” Craig Claiborne’s “New York Times Cook Book,” and Michael Field’s “Cooking School” which at that time were “the holy trinity of cookbooks,” Ephron slowly begins to self-reflect and grow. She writes that after cooking an entire meal from one of these cookbooks, she felt “brave and plucky,” and although she didn’t have a date but “she wasn’t one of those lonely women who sat home with a pathetic container of yoghurt” (Ephron). Instead, she cooked for herself to renew her own identity as a woman,impressing upon the vital feminine elements of her core existence and to

shine light on the power that connected her and the transformation of food ingredients into a fully developed treat. In the article, later on, it is interesting to see, thinking about the social and political implications present, Ephron relating the invention of the birth control pill with Julia Child’s first cookbook. She writes, “Just before I moved to New York, two historic events had occurred: the birthcontrol pill was invented and the first Julia Child cookbook was published” (Ephron). Her comparison of these two seemingly very different things relates to the feminist movement that peaked in 1960’s and 70’s, touching every area of women’s experience – family, sexuality and work. The first cookbook by a woman and the invention of birth control pill showed how women were now getting involved in American civic life which at that time was dominated by men and how the invention of the birth-control pill gave women control over their own bodies. Ephron wanted to emphasize that the shackles of domination by men were breaking and women were gaining access to resources which could change their lives and give them the freedom of making their own decisions. This element of choice rejuvenates throughout her article and makes it a riveting force of the her experience in those conservative times. Soon, Ephron became a freelance magazine writer, and afterwards wrote a thinly disguised novel about the end of her marriage and it contained recipes. A food expert commented that the recipes were not particularly original. However, Ephron quotes, “The point wasn’t about the recipes. The point (I was starting to realize) was making people feel at home, about finding your own style, whatever it was, and committing to it” (Ephron). From copying the theory of her cookbook crushes’ menus to altering their cookbooks recipes and cooking her way, she matured. There was a time where she secretly hoped that the famous food writers publish her recipes but soon realized that no one was going to do it, so she decided to put her recipes into a book. This is how she evolved as a writer, as a cook and as a person by working on her interests and doing what she wanted to do. Her life can be described as a journey from youth to maturity organized in such a way where the reader

gathers a sense of inner, deep self-reflection and self-growth. Once she discovers herself, she learnt how to move on in life and how to become the source of your her happiness. Each chapter of her life engraved lessons into her. Ephron quotes: “And, after a while, I didn’t have to have long internal dialogues with Lee - I’d incorporated what I learned from him, and I’d moved on. Lee never served salad or cheese, but I like salad and cheese. So there were more dishes to wash; so what?” (Ephron). Learning to create something from scratch solely through your own doing, providing food as a comfort for yourself and for others, fuelling yourself, caring for your body, controlling what you give your body; these were the glowing emblems of Ephron’s feminism. The beauty of Ephron’s work is such that the ending of her article signals a continual growth. She alters the traditional way in which her mom serves roast-beef dinner, quoting “My mother didn’t serve Yorkshire pudding…..My mother served potato pancakes instead. I serve Yorkshire pudding and potato pancakes. Why not? You only live once.” Trying new things leads to exploration of one’s self. She now made her own choices and had a strong connection with food which provided her with comfort. She had now become someone who had the confidence and the determination to try her own ways, to embark upon her own chosen routes with food and to eviscerate the traditional notions of food passed from generation. In 2009, the box office hit Julie & Julia, written and directed by Ephron helped bring attention to America’s first female culinary icon. Once again she used food as a tool to succeed in fields dominated by men and her film focused on self discovery through food. Julie & Julia- the title of the movie - refers to real-life women who never met. The film contrasts the life of chef Julia Child in the early years of her culinary career. Simultaneously, Julie Powell, a writer, has abandoned her interest in writing and settled for a government job. All her friends routinely throw their success in her face. Inspired by Julia, Julie aspires to cook all 524 recipes in Child's cookbook in 365 days. In the face of an dissatisfying dead-end job and a rather monotonous life, Powell believes that pushing

herself through these recipes will reinvigorate her life and her soul. On the other hand, Julia moves to Paris with her diplomat husband, Paul Child and attends Le Cordon Bleu to learn French cooking. Being the only woman in class, she is met with scepticism. She had to work harder than her male classmates in order to prove herself. Her femininity and inherent connections to domesticity did her no good in the world of fine French cuisine. It is important to note that learning the art of French cooking - a fine cuisine - demolishes the stereotype that fine art is reserved for men, leaving for women the “domestic.” Both women set goals to achieve a better sense of purpose and self at a time when they felt empty, unsure and frustrated. In feminist theory, the kitchen has often been seen as a place of oppression for women, but the Julie and Julia project portrays the kitchen as a space of purpose, meaning and strength. It defies the traditional image of kitchens as a place of domesticity. It chronicles one woman’s adventure of self-discovery. Laura Shapiro, a columnist at The Real Paper (Boston) before beginning a 16-year run at Newsweek, covered food, women’s issues, winning several journalism awards. This food historian followed Nora’s tradition of recipe and relationship in her writings. In “Perfection Salad: Women and Cooking at the Turn of the Century (1986),” Laura Shapiro brings together the skills of a fine writer with that of a historian to write about women and their connection with food. She investigates a band of passionate but ladylike reformers at the turn of the twentieth century,including Fannie Farmer of the Boston Cooking School, who had an aim to modernize the American diet but through a scientific approach to cooking. They intentionally cooked fussy and saucy foods, dishes tending to be unacceptable to modern tastes. However, these teachers were serious and well intentioned, having found their way as professionals in a world where few such options were open to women. Once again, just like in Ephron’s work, in Shapiro’s work kitchen is described as a place of awakening and joy, where women find their purpose and happiness. It is important to note that, as the author, emphasizes, the fear of significant power of women “even over themselves” is what kept their aims

restricted. However, the field of home economics provided an opportunity for American women to participate in the realm of men. The author beautifully sheds light on the study of women presented cooking as a form of social power in her work. She quotes:

They wanted a career and they needed a cause, but they weren’t interested in breaking very many rules, reordering society, or challenging men on their own turf. What they really wanted was access to the modern world, the world of science, technology, and rationality, and they believed the best way for women to gain access was to re-create man’s world in women’s sphere.” (Shapiro, pg. 9)

Recently, UN Women organized a skills development workshop in Lahore, Pakistan on ‘Women and Food Tech Sharing Economy: Employability and Empowerment’ to enable Pakistani women to focus on self-efficiency. The main aim of UN Women’s initiative is to introduce this innovative approach for women who do everyday chores in Pakistan, and empower them, and that way give them access to new markets through ICT, and further create employability opening the door to enterprise development.

The simple message that resonates today with millions of women today,especially in the era of the #MeToo movement, is enticing and progressive. From women’s reproductive rights to equal pay legislation to an awakening of the menace of sexual assault, women have finally made a stride in rejecting traditional notions of power and pushing back against defined roles. The efforts of Ephron, Julie, Julia and Shapiro all emphasized a kind of feminism that let women choose what was close to their hearts and talents, not what society expected of them. All these women,in this case through the power and unifying feeling of food, opened pathways for women that are exemplary. Today, their cookbooks, media portrayals and other writings reflect a peaceful movement that was fruitful to the cause of women all over America and extended to countries like Pakistan too, that was valuable to the personal memories of friends, families and those who share the similar passion for food. Really,

this creative aura of experiments were crucial to this entire periphery of these women’s lives that began with a love for food, aroused independence power and choice and ended with self discovery. No doubt, food is a really important key factor that brings women together to share recipes, promote healthy eating and to support and empower one another.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

“Perfection Salad : Women and Cooking at the Turn of the Century by Laura Shapiro (1987, Paperback) for Sale Online.” EBay, www.ebay.com/p/Perfection-Salad-Women-and-Cooking-at-theTurn-of-the-Century-by-Laura-Shapiro-1987-Paperback/1414404. Ephron, Nora, and Nora Ephron. “My Cookbook Crushes, by Nora Ephron.” The New Yorker, The New Yorker, 24 Apr. 2019, www.newyorker.com/magazine/2006/02/13/serial-monogamy.

“Empowering Women through Food Tech.” UN Women | Asia and the Pacific, asiapacific.unwomen.org/en/news-and-events/stories/2016/03/empowering-women-through-foodtech....