The nascence of cooking men and engaging in Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) and Sexual, Reproductive Health and Rights’ (SRHR) constructive conversations are a brainchild of the One Economy Foundation, under its implementation pillar, #BeFree.
The male cooking engagement (#BeFree Cook-Off) is one of those birthed to provide for the boy child, as gender equality justice provides more for the girl child.
The second edition of #BeFree’s Cook-Off was a #BeFree Ultimate Potjie Competition that took place on 21 April 2023 at Xwama Traditional Restaurant in Windhoek. It centred on teaching young men how to cook a perfect chicken potjie. The potjie recipe traditionally includes meat, vegetables like carrots, cabbage, cauliflower or pumpkin, and starches like rice or potatoes, all slow-cooked with spices. This recipe was chosen because it’s one of those which young men in Namibia enjoy cooking for leisure. The participants were guided by a group of professional chefs, yet the best-tasting meals won prizes for their effort!
Namibia is a country known for its pursuit of gender equality, and it adopted a National Gender Policy (NGP) dating back to 1997 to close the gaps created by the socio-economic, political and cultural inequalities that existed previously in Namibian society.
Policies are mere bureaucracy if there is no implementation. #BeFree Cook-Off is an implementation tool of the GNP, as it aims to address and dispel gender stereotypes, correct myths about SGBV, infertility and circumcision, and create an understanding to help navigate and overcome a gendered world. Being able to teach adolescent boys in Windhoek (yet nationally influencing) how to cook for themselves is an objective met for #BeFree.
Cooking-men is a small spoken part of society. The majority of men prefer bigger conversations about sports, resources and bejeweling. However, what happened during the cook-off at Xwama Traditional Restaurant had a testimony of men demonstrating a sufficient understanding of gender stereotypes. For example, the participants who live alone openly disclosed eating fast foods and instantly-cooked foods, caused by lacking cooking skills.
It doesn’t require a nutritionist to opine that frequently eating fast foods and instantly-cooking foods is unhealthy. Men delving into the loop (frequently consuming fast foods) can endure suffering from cholesterol diseases and unbalanced nutritional levels.
A study conducted in Sweden indicated that men are often associated with professional cooking and artistry, while cooking for women is thought of as a daily responsibility, and less glamorous than cooking at home.
The findings have shown that men’s cooking is decontextualised as a playful leisure activity. Men’s domestic cooking is now, and has been fleeting. It is not as serial as for women, for whom domestic cooking is a daily responsibility as indicated in the study by Helen Andersson and Göran Eriksson, scholars at Örebro University in Sweden. From a socio-economic point of view, men traditionally are associated with acquiring resources. It is their spouses who serially engage in cooking and food preparation roles. Recent (2015) data has shown that women still cook more than men – the average hours per week spent on cooking by women tops at 7.6 hours, while men count lower at 5.0 hours. The results of this data are still influenced by the underlying norms, beliefs and stereotypes on the gendering of cooking.
Societies have varying gendering norms, beliefs and stereotypes about cooking men. At the end of the day, individuality rules; as what works for certain households does not work for others. When in Rome, you do as the Romans do!
*David Junias is a #BeFree Consultant for the One Economy Foundation. davidjunias@gmail.com