OK, i'm probably biased, because I LOVE to cook, both by myself and with my kids. But anyway, I see it like this:

1) More men cooking is a good thing. It means they're taking more of a domestic role; they're showing kids it's OK for men to cook, etc etc.

2) Some men might be inspired to cook through the competition process.

3) Of those men, some are unlikely to compete (and therefore cook) if they are certain they will lose. (I'm not sure whether losing "to a woman" is part of it or not)

4) Those are the EXACT MEN for whom cooking is most important socially. I.e. those men are the cooks who are "most patriarchal" and therefore, those men are the ones who, if seen cooking and competing, set the best example.

So if this gets more men cooking, and more men standing around state fairs in an apron, I think it's a good thing.

Grilling works better as a spectator sport (I imagine) because you can see the food cooking. I guess it is more intesting to watch someone basting with flames shooting up ect. than to watch someone sitting next to an oven, waiting. Just a thought.

I can't believe I just called grilling a spectator sport.

It looks to me that the world is a place where most of the great cooks are, and always have been, men. I don't know why one does not find enough women in great kitchens of the world, but one does not. What, they can't stand the heat?

Pie baking might not be fun to watch, but pie preparation certainly could be - flour flying, crusts ripping, hot cherry filling missing the pie pan and hitting the counter. Good stuff.

I don't get the idea of separating out the competitions...it's just asking for problems. we've seen this before with Mannys and the like, that when men do "women's work" it's suddenly interesting, valuable, and hip. Take the interest off the dudelyness, and put it back where it belongs.

That said, I'm all in favor of guys learning to cook...it think it's total BS that anyone, and especially the men who think that' it's charming to be ignorant, ought to know how to cook. Nobody is proud of intentionally not learning how to use the restroom on their own. Why would the kitchen be any different?

Gah. Lack of English there. I'm not even going to try to rescue that synatax, and just say...the intent of the 2nd paragraph is to support the idea that people ought to know how to cook.

It's one of those things where you don't know whether to be glad because the men are getting involved, or annoyed because it's sex-segregated.

Maybe the segregation should only be for a year or two, to give the guys to learn how to compete with the women? After that, they could phase it out? Or have an "experts" and "amateurs" division?

Noname, love the post. :D

I'll come down solidly on the side of "gah" although I'm a non-cooking woman, married to a man who might well enter such competitions. He also makes pies.

BTW: We often hear it said the "great cooks are men". We should all be sure (if we use that phrase at all) to say, instead, the "most famous" cooks are men.

As a happy cook book collector, I keep about 1/4 of my cookbooks on my 3 foot ktchen shelf. Those are my favorites and most-used ones. So i'm going through it in my mind:

Roasting, Silver Palate; Cake Bible; Moosewood; Marcella's Kitchen; my Indian and Thai cuisine libraries; my vegetarian book collections; the Joy of Cooking... almost ALL of my favorite cookbooks are by talented, well-known, female authors. Oddly enough I don't own any Julia Child stuff though.

Mmm. All this thinkng of food, and now I'm hungry. Lunchtime! :)

I don't think there ought to be special section for guys. They wouldn't do that for a women in anything, (and if they did it would probably be seen as weak). Let em' sink or swim. They can practice their 'art' at home to be ready for next years competition at the fair.

What about women's sports, freewmn?

It concerns me that the most "domestic" of tasks, like cooking and sewing, are considered women's work at a family level, but when it comes to making a career out of them, top chefs and designers are predominantly men. It's like men are even supposedly better at the things that it's a woman's "duty" to do. Ridiculous, and annoying.

The annoying thing isn't that they are opening up a competion for "people intimidated by regular competitors", it's that they assume all the unskilled cookers will be men! I would be intimidated to enter into this competition to, so don't pretend women are born being good cookers. A non-segregated amatuer division is a great idea.

I think it's kinda funny when I read phrases like "sterotypical work for women" and "now socially acceptable for men" involved with cooking. Who cares what other people think about the cooking in your home?

I do more cooking than my wife. I grill quite well and there are some pasta dishes that I excell at making. My wife begs me to make lasagna so she can take it to work and let her coworkers try it.

A couple of weeks ago, my wife tried making deviled eggs for the first time. They were great. They disappeared from the family picnic less than 30 minutes after we got there.

The last time we hosted a party, I grilled marinated ribs. People lined up at the grill to get a piece before it was finished cooking because it smelled so good.

I could care less what is sterotypical. I cook a few things very well and I enjoy it.

prairielily,
Womens sports are made entirely for women-by women. It also helps to chisel out an area for women sportscasters, and coaches in society which had not traditionally recognized women as even capable of engaging in these positions.Special consideration has to be given to the relationship between the sport and the physiology of the athlete. Being as there are only two genders it pretty much divides up that way. Segregated pie cooking is not based on physiology, but gender assumptions. Pie cooking contests should not be segregated. The assumption that men need a little boost in cooking because they are men is sexist. In this society when a women enters the workforce, and earns promotions she is not first introduced to a 'practice' run in the world. She figures it out using her own intelligence and ambition. Men should not be given any special considerations. Wouldn't it be condescending if they had an auto repair 'practice' contest before the 'real' competition because they assumed women needed a little more experience in that area in order to measure up to the regular competitors (i.e., men)?Reserving competitions for a gender based on societal assumptions about what one is and isn't capable of doing is sexist, and only reinforces those stereotypes. It' is like men get away with acting like 8 year olds (ewww, girls are grosss!Anything that a girl does I don't wanna do!). Similar to turning home ec into 'bachelor survival' in order to get guys to learn home economics. It is one thing to have an unisex amatuer table, but isn't that kind of stupid - an amateur table would get just as competitive as the normal one, and then what-an amateur, amateur table? Stop the special male indulgences already!!!!You can act like big boys!