Reflection and Rationale for sex in the kitchen project
In China, there is an old proverb said that ‘The desire for food and sex is part of human nature.’ I think this proverb can interpret our theme of workshop ‘Sex in the kitchen’ quite well. There is a very close relationship between love, sex and food. As it is said on the internet ‘It's hard to feel romantic if you're starving. On the other hand, when you first meet someone and are completely infatuated, often you lose your sense of hunger. Our bodies produce a chemical stimulant, phenylethylamine (PEA) as well as norepinephrine.’
The human need for food and sex are basic, part of the foundation of our nature, which makes it sensible that they are so closely knit together. The famous Chinese director Ang Lee also had a famous movie ‘Eat Drink Man Woman’ which describes the gender relationship through kitchen and food. In the movie, food acts as a recurring symbol and hovers in the background for poignant family moments.
Kitchen is a very basic place in our daily life but we cannot live without kitchen. As I researched in the project proposal before, the gender relationship in the kitchen is unequal which is a serious problem we should face in modern days. So after our group did the food experience about the taste test, I want to do the 12 page document not only record the experience, but also express the gender relationship as well. I’m not sure our group’s experience is successful or not because like other students said, it might meaningless if only to guess the dish is cooked by male or female. However, from the questionnaire, I also can get answers like ‘This dish is cooked by male because my mum always cooks it’ or ‘male like to cook easy dish’. I think these are all people’s straight thinking about sex and kitchen’s link.
Color is the main component I use to show the gender relationship, after getting inspiration from tutor, I changed a lot for my final document and I really like the consequence. As I think, though male and female are different, may have different behavior, habit, or flavor, we are all equal in the kitchen. Thus, I use color gradient and the mix of variables to express the connection—always there is a connection between male and female. I also like back cover of my publication, there are types on ‘he’ ‘she’ to appeal people ignore sex not only in the kitchen but also in a wider environment.
From this semester’s lecture and workshop, I really learn a lot about the gender relationship because I seldom think from this aspect, maybe due to the education system in China. I even feel confused at the beginning of this class because I don’t know which aspect should be researched first. Group discussion gives me various ideas about how to explore this project and where to start. Finally, thank for our tutor’s guide for my project.
