Men cooking....

ekz13

I'm with most on here it's not feminine at all.. it's a skill, I cook all the time.. and my son learned it before he moved out just the same as my daughter will be able to change a tire or battery and her own oil.. these are just skills that improve your life knowledge..

and honestly, chef career aside.. what woman wouldn't love a man that can cook for her instead of her having to take care of him for the rest of his life..

alishuman

If I told you that I cooked dinner while my wife hooked up our new surround sound system it would sound strange to most people. Not because either of us is incapable of doing those things, but because in our society they are viewed as outside usual gender roles.

I'm laughing at this because... This is what would happen at my house. I hate cooking, my husband hates tech stuff.

deliak2010

Lol your husband sounds a lot like mine . Pay him no mind and let your son do what he loves to do! There is nothing feminine about cooking and, if anything, I think it makes a guy so much more intriguing!! It's interesting because, like you said, some of the best chefs in the WORLD are men! But your son seriously sounds like he could be a contestant on Top Chef or Chopped! With creative ideas like that and being able to cook an entire dinner w/minimal direction from you, that's AMAAAAZZING . Let him do his thing and have a talk with your husband about learning to nurture your son's talents so that he can thrive. For the future, it will definitely be very important, if not crucial, for your son to have the encouragement of his father so that he can feel proud and motivated to achieve his dream, whatever it may be. Good luck and happy cooking/eating!!

kubicak

It's true that back in the olden days, women were the ones seen in the kitchen in their cutesy aprons, preparing meals for the whole family. Go back even further, and it was the men that were the hunters and the women stayed home with 'household duties'. But when you really think about it, the woman took what the man had and made it edible; made it feed the family, even for several days at a time, and provided nutrition. If you ask me, that's far more important than the man bringing home the beef (so to speak).

These days, things are revolutionized so that you see so many men in the kitchen. Bourdain, Ripert, Batali, Flay, Ramsay, and so on - all men. And manly men, at that. Well, maybe not Batali ;D Does your husband think they're all foofy girly girls? Would he like to challenge Gordon Ramsay to some rugby first, then make that decision?

I say you tell your husband to back off and let your son do what he wants to do if it makes him happy. In the end, your son won't secretly hate his father for stifling his creativity, and let me tell you, if you've never dealt with massive father-son resentment rivalry, it's best to avoid it.

mikethom

I love to cook! I love to entertain and feed my friends! I'm afraid I'm having a hard time even beginning to sympathize with your husband.

Saruman_w

I don't think it's feminine at all. I wish I could cook...

monroe61

It is not feminine at all. My husband is a "manly" man and he is the cook in our house and he is damn good at it!

Good for you for letting your son try the class out and signing him up for it!

polarsjewel

You've heard this a hundred times now, my husband is a chef. There is absolutely nothing feminine about being a chef. Maybe he was thinking home economics. There is nothing sexier than a man who can cook!

jgic2009

Even if it WERE feminine, would that really be so bad?

sportsjunkee70

I love to cook!

I constantly watch the foodnetwork. I enjoy going to the kitchen stores and looking for new toys for my kitchen. When I go to the grocery story I am always looking for new ideas for dishes. I always want to try new recipes and would love to open my own family style sports bar/restaurant.

ganesha303

Everyone has to eat, so I do not see it as particularly feminine.

raevynn

If I told you that I cooked dinner while my wife hooked up our new surround sound system it would sound strange to most people. Not because either of us is incapable of doing those things, but because in our society they are viewed as outside usual gender roles.

I'm laughing at this because... This is what would happen at my house. I hate cooking, my husband hates tech stuff.

Um, our house, too.

I can cook. I'm a "natural" cook. My Hubby is a great cook! He cooks most of our meals -- and cleans the kitchen!

I did hook up our Home Theater system. And our WiFi network. I used to write technical support articles on How to install/use technical items (cellphones, HT systems, etc.), and he used to make paper - and he hated it. He loves creating things in the kitchen, even more than I do!

When Julia Child learned to cook in France, she was the only woman in class.... women were generally Not Allowed to become chefs in Europe until recently.

Our boys can cook... and they all have very, very happy wives/girlfriends because of it!

rbvaudrizle

Throw out all male female roles out the window and allow your son to do what he wants to do. This bothers me because I am the one who picks up the kids from daycare and cooks dinner every night for them. I raised my brothers (they loved to eat btw) because I had to and now i am raising two kids. You never know what life will throw at you and what "life skills" you will need. If he wants to cook and enjoys it let him. A real man can do it all not because he has to but because he wants to.

kenlad64

I love to cook and do a lot of it at our house! Encourage him to follow through with this! ...at the very least he will learn a skill that will make him more self reliant, he could be looking at career path that could take him all over the world. I think girls are impressed with a man that can cook too.

Thriceshy

Not only does my husband cook, he does most of the cooking. He is, in fact, nearly as responsible for my weight loss as I am, because he's willing to do the measuring, the weighing, and the altering of recipes to make them good for me. He LOVES to cook. I say encourage your boy--it's not often kids find something that really appeals to them, really draws them. Learning to cook well, even learning to be a chef, can't be anything but good for him.

I'd be super proud if my boy showed the same interest.

Kris

mos1971

Ive got a boy of 14 he is into gardening woodwork and anything he can do with his hands he can do the basics of cooking, if he came home and said i want to be a fashion designer, a chef, even a ballet dancer i would stick by what his desision would be. Kids choose the path they want to take we are there just to guide them on the way, they have to make the mistakes them selfs thats how we learn even if we know them to be the wrong desisions they are individuals. I wish him all the luck in the world and hope he becomes a world class chef. Good Luck

mjbrenner

It is easy for all of us to suggest that your husband is out of line and being inappropriate, but none of us have an insider's view of your family dynamic. Manhood is a complex ideal, and it can be very difficult for anyone to bring together the disparate ideas of what makes an ideal man.

Instead, I suggest that you find ways to reassure your husband of just how "manly" cooking can be. Encourage your son to cook with alcohol, a traditionally "manly" cooking method. Beer (stout) braised sausages are always a hit on game day, and they can be made well before the game and kept warm, meaning your son and still join in the "guy" aspects of the day. Just call them "beer sausages". Similarly, maybe his father can teach him how to grill a killer burger over charcoal. If his father doesn't know how to grill or BBQ, then they can learn together.

While you do this, also think about the messages you and others are sending your husband about his own manliness. If everyone insists that cooking is plenty manly, and he cannot cook, then he could easily be reading that as, "I am not many enough." Find ways to reassure him that he is still the masculine guy your married while your son finds a different path to manhood.

onefitdiva

I realized in reading these I failed to mention a VERY key part, the "royal fit" was not when the kids were home, so my son did not ever hear the conversation or my husbands opinion on it. And to my knowledge he has not said anything to him on it, and my son would have said something to me if he did. He is smart enough to know it would have hurt my son's feelings if he had went on about it in front of him. Ok, I think that is all.

doughnutwretch

I disagree with your husband. Cooking is not a "feminine" thing for a man to do and if your son enjoys it, let him run with it like you have been. My wonderful man loves to cook and he is FAR from feminine. I think it's incredibly sexy and sweet that he enjoys doing it so much. And, truth be told, he's a better chef and baker than I. I'm okay with this

Some kids have a really hard time finding things they are really passionate about, so the fact that he's as young as he is and really excited about cooking is pretty awesome, I'd say. There are a lot of successful male chefs in our current society and I don't think any of them should be ridiculed for being feminine.

My very manly chef

The_Saint

You definitely need to nurture this talent. Keep in mind the more skill he has before entering culinary school the better off he’ll be. Get those 10,000 hours in now, and he’ll be a professional chef if that’s what he wants.