On Barbeques

Someone noted in Eschaton comments that it's almost always the men who do all grilling outside, not women. In this country, that is.

Isn't that fascinating? Grilling in the backyard is like doing physics! Girls can't do it or are not interested in it or there's a biological difference caused by some prehistoric humans deciding that Man Is The Tender Of The Hearth. Except, of course, that for centuries humans have cooked over the open flame and most of that cooking has been done by women. So the explanation has to be found elsewhere.

And I believe that it is cultural. Cooking at home became acceptably masculine only when it was not done in the kitchen, when it had an aspect of the campfire attached to it. The reason why I find this fascinating is the strength of something which really must be based on culture.