An old joke says that if you think the way to a man’s heart
is through his stomach, you’re aiming too high.
If you get this joke, all it really means is that you’ve
replaced one horribly sexist mindset for another: the idea that a man’s love
can be won by either feeding or fucking him.
In 1962, recipe books and pamphlets still assumed that a
woman was doing the cooking, and that her position within the home was secured
by her doing so. Maple Leaf Mills, makers of Monarch brand flour, certainly
thought so. Their booklet is full of cartoons such as these which leave no
doubt about where the woman’s place is.
The Soft Way to Your
Husband’s Heart, Maple Leaf Mills, 1962
