“She did what?!”: Married Women’s Renegotiation of Kitchen Mistakes through Narrative SUE SAMUELSON AWARD FOR FOODWAYS SCHOLARSHIP 2018

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Sarah T. Shultz

Abstract

The act of preparing food the “right” way can be a source of tension between spouses. In interviews conducted with heterosexual married couples in rural Kentucky and rural and urban Pennsylvania, stories of stressful or disastrous cooking mistakes are reimagined by wives as being about times when they successfully “got away” with something or pulled one over on their husbands. In these reimaginings, the events in question are presented as humorous examples of the women’s resourcefulness. This paper explores these kinds of narratives and their ability to serve as opportunities for women to reclaim and reshape these experiences of kitchen mishaps and mistakes.

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Lead Essays