Cookbooks and Gender Stereotypes

Jessamyn Neuhaus has produced an interesting study of cookbooks -- and how they subtly but consistently reinforce the culture's stereotypes about women's proper roles. During World War II, cookbooks emphasized that the "healthy American family is a fighting unit" and showed how to deal with rations; when processed foods needed consumers, cookbooks promoted quick dishes; in the 1950s, women's role in homemaking was the theme.

A review: Steak for men, salad for women - Christian Science Monitor, July 24, 2003

About cookbooks and women's history:
• Historical Cookbooks
• Fannie Farmer - a biography