Quote Originally Posted by Throbert McGee View Post
Without commenting on the "battle of the sexes," I just wanted to observe that my зять (brother-in-law; husband of one's sister) has decided that приготовление индейки (cooking the turkey) for Thanksgiving is a suitable мужское дело ("manly job"), even though my sister does 99% of the cooking in their household -- including the "side dishes" for Thanksgiving, like mashed potatoes, etc. (But my B-I-L did every step of cooking the turkey -- brining, stuffing, roasting, and carving).

Presumably, the Thanksgiving turkey is "manly enough" because cutting such a large bird requires big knives -- so, as comedienne Rita Rudner sarcastically observed, "Men feel they must do the cooking when there is DANGER involved!!!"

Other styles of cooking that are full of Thrills!! Danger!! Adventure!!, and therefore "acceptably masculine":


  • All kinds of barbecuing (because, of course, there are FLAMES!)
  • Making pancakes and bacon for breakfast (there is a DANGER that if the woman fried the bacon, she might throw away the delicious bacon-grease because it's fattening...)
  • Cooking a fish that the man has personally caught by himself (no matter how tiny the fish is)


Wow! Looks like a profound sociological investigation.
I would like to share my observation of men’s abilities to cook, too.

When I met my bf I used to go to see him in his place sometimes. He always cooked, without exceptions. When he came to live with me he forgot how to cook on the very first day and avoided geting up until the breakfast was ready and it smelled about the whole appartment. He said that cooking is not his forte and he is afraid to burn food. Period. Then he bought a plot in the country and began to stay there because of the dog (it’s the most effective protection against thieves in the country in Ukraine). There he immediately remembered how to cook and cooks even when I come to see him. What a weird phenomenon, don’t you think?