Editorial

ROOKE: Are American Women Even Up To The Task Of Cooking For Thanksgiving?

Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Mary Rooke Commentary and Analysis Writer
Font Size:

American women know their way around a conference room. However, they have largely forgotten the traditions of a kitchen, leading to the question of whether they are even capable of making one of the nation’s most important meals on Thanksgiving.

The menu varies across the U.S., but almost all family Thanksgivings include turkey, dressing (stuffing for those not born in the South), mashed potatoes, and gravy.

The family matriarch was in charge of the most important dishes to ensure the meal was a success no matter what everyone else brought. Being allowed to cook the turkey was a right of passage that a child could witness from one generation to the next.

When the big meal transferred from being held at grandma’s house to your mother’s, she became in charge of delivering the prized bird. As she was in the kitchen rubbing the turkey with butter, S&P, and garlic, your dad was probably bragging to the other men in the living room about the bird’s size, making it clear he spared no expense.

The celebration of Thanksgiving is the epitome of American values. It showcases that our nation’s strength still lies in the family as we go back to the same house to recreate the same feast with the same people around the same table every year.

It was understood by everyone in the house that this meal was special – something that deserved dedicated time, preparation, and care to complete. It brought families together and kept them close. (RELATED: ROOKE: Where Did All The Good Men Go?)

These moments are distant memories now as the number of women who can confidently prepare a Thanksgiving meal seems to be dwindling. It was always easy to remember which aunt baked the dry turkey because it was a novelty for a woman not to be a good cook.

The sad reality is that American women aren’t being taught how to be homemakers anymore because they are learning to dominate in the workforce instead of perfecting their Sunday roast. It’s much easier to order delivery than to learn how to cook.

Mothers have to be looking at their adult daughters – with their dependency on antidepressants and Taco Bell – wondering how it all went wrong. Their once home-cooked Thanksgiving meal now often involves a caterer, Costco, or the freezer section.

Tradition is a beautiful thing that shouldn’t be ignored. Because when someone turns their back on tradition, their life often feels chaotic and untethered. Nothing describes the modern woman more. You can see it in every viral video of a 20-30 something female laughing about how her house is a disaster while promising that it’s going to be “totally fine” because she found the collectible toy that McDonald’s was advertising on TikTok.

One would think it’s a bit, but it’s not. Women have been coping for decades with their decreasing ability to clean their house for their families or make nutritious meals by putting up leopard print wall decor that says something like: “Bless This Mess” or “Do I Look Like Your Grandmother?”

This Thanksgiving, more than ever, women should be called back to the kitchen to make the meal that fuels the nation. And for the love of football, keep Aunt Bridget away from the turkey.