I spent a lot of time thinking about food this weekend. I got out cookbooks to plan meals for the week before going grocery shopping (something I never do); made broccoli and cheese soup and blueberry bread from scratch; read a lot of Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle; lamented the lack of CSAs in our area; and discussed with Adam plans to garden, can, and freeze our own fruits and vegetables this year.We spent a lot of time talking about our families and what we'd come from, and our conversation arrived at the conclusion that feminism meant something very different to our parents' generation than it does to ours. For them, it was all about avoiding the oppression of the home by choosing to use formula rather than breastfeed or take the kids to McDonalds every week to avoid cooking. My definition of feminism is that of an industrious woman, one who knows how to take care of things and doesn't mind getting her hands dirty, in and out of the home.
I never thought I would be someone who enjoyed the domestic arts. Don't get me wrong -- there are plenty I don't enjoy. But in an effort to slow life down and live with intention, my attention is drawn away from modern conveniences and toward the careful crafting of things for myself and my family -- a meal made from scratch, a pair of hemmed pants, a clean floor, a slowly sipped cup of coffee. I'm grateful for the choice.
4 comments:
i love the middle paragraph of this post! spot on! i don't consider myself a feminist but i agree with this entire paragraph. :)
james and i are planning on havin a garden this year as well. we always had a garden when i was growing up and i hated that we did because of all the work i had to do in it. but now that i am grown i see the good sense in having one and i am so excited!
i'm sorry there aren't any csa/s in your area. we recently found out we are moving and one of my first thoughts was, "shoot, we're going to miss out on the last couple of months of our csa!" followed by, "wherever we move better have one."
or i could just follow your idea and plan on actually gardening.
hope you are liking kingsolver's book. i recommend pollan's "the omnivore's dilemma" too, if you haven't read it yet.
Laura, having a garden is a lot of work. So will canning and freezing all those fruits and veggies. But in the long run, I think it's worth it.
Kate, I am loving Kingsolver's book and want to give it to everyone I know. I just looked up The Omnivore's Dilemma and they have have it at our library! It's going on my to-read list. Thank you. :)
Lovely, Lindsay! I really do believe domesticity is an art form, one I try to improve on daily.
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