She keeps on cooking: the gendered organization of domestic cooking among heterosexual brazilian couples in the Amazon region

Abstract

This article presents an analysis of gender perspectives that organize and sustain domestic culinary work among cisgender and heterosexual couples in the Brazilian Amazon. 19 semi-structured interviews were conducted with both women and men, with a focus on gender interactions related to domestic culinary work. Our findings indicate that men and women engaged in domestic culinary work in accordance with or in contrast professional status, individual income, perceived time availability, culinary skills, and partner demand patterns. To illustrate, husbands assumed control of domestic cooking if he has the lower income, lower workload or are unemployed. Women who sought more equitable gender perspectives encouraged their sons to engage in domestic cooking at home, while instructing their daughter in the value of pursuing a college education and engaging in external employment. Women continued to cook at home when they had the lowest family income and were the only ones responsible for providing food to children. In contrast, men ceased cooking when they received higher wages, thereby reproducing their hegemonic masculinities through traditional family social relations. Consequently, domestic culinary work is inextricably linked to the higher value placed on paid extra-domestic work and the general lack of prestige attached to unpaid domestic work. Ultimately, this study contributes to a deeper understanding of gender dynamics in the domestic context, highlighting the importance of recognizing and valuing domestic culinary work as a fundamental part of everyday life and gender relations.