Eggs, Gender Roles, and Inclusion - A Response to "100 Skills Every Man Should Know"

While reading through the list of 100 Skills Every Man Should Know from the Art of Manliness, I came upon list item 41. and knew immediately that this was the skill that I wanted to demonstrate. The skill, which simply reads "Cook Eggs" in the article, immediately struck me with so many different thoughts and personal associations. Firstly, I love eggs and had already been planning on making them the next morning before even reading the article. Secondly, growing up it was always a running joke in my family that the only time you would ever catch my dad cooking food for us was if he was making breakfast, particularly his egg sandwiches. Meanwhile, my mother never once made us breakfast and stuck to solely making us lunch and dinner. I'm not entirely sure how or why this strict division of mealtime labor between my parents came about, but regardless of the origin it has definitely led me to create an association between cooking breakfast food for your family and  "manliness" in my brain. So, when I saw that eggs made the 100 skills list, and then saw the line in the description that read "If you can master a few ways to cook eggs, you'll be a breakfast aficionado who will wow your significant other or your kids, depending on your station in life." I felt a sense of childhood nostalgia and connection. 

While making these eggs for myself, I was reminded of the sense of independence that cooking brings me. There's something so reassuring and comforting about making a hot breakfast for yourself, and it really does make me feel like an adult who can take care of herself. And, making breakfast, especially eggs, for someone else makes me feel like I'm taking care and providing for whoever I am making the eggs for. It feels like an act of love, making someone else something so warm and easy to eat on a sleepy morning. I really think that my dad wanted us to feel taken care of, and so he made us lots and lots of eggs. 

I think this skill was included in the 100 skills list for that very reason. Eggs are something you can make for a loved one and really "wow" them, as the article puts it. It can be a way to either impress others, or make them feel provided for, which are two actions that are very reminiscent of traditional, stereotypical male roles in society. 

I struggle to recommend that this traditionally domestic skill be added to our hypothetical 100 Skills Every Woman Should Know list, because for far too many centuries the role of egg maker was relegated almost solely to women. But, on the other hand, I can't deny the sense of independence and empowerment that making eggs brings me personally. For me, simple domestic tasks are so inextricably tied to my conceptions of adulthood and independence, which are two things I value highly as a young adult. Because of these conflicting feelings, I think the best spot for "41. Cooking Eggs" to fall would be the 100 Skills Every Human Should Know list, because the ability to cook eggs for both yourself and others is a joy that I believe should be universally experienced. 

As for the remainder of our hypothetical 100 Skills Every Woman Should Know and our 100 Skills Every Human Should Know lists, I think nearly all the skills on the original 100 Skills Every Man Should Know list are applicable and would even be very beneficial for all people to know. I enjoyed and agreed with the point that Dr. Nora made on her blog post that even list item 1., "Tie a Necktie," is applicable and useful for many women and nonbinary people who wear neckties. Even personally, as a woman who has never worn a necktie before, I have still been in situations where someone, often a young child, needed help tying a necktie, and it would have come in handy for me to know how. This same logic applies for 32. "Buy a Suit". 

One final point that I took away from this article was that I found it to be heavily focused on skills that require a particularly strong and able body. This includes skills such as "16. Do a Deadlift Properly," "20. Throw a Spiral," "22. Split Firewood," "33. Swim the Front Stroke," "38. Do a Proper Pull-Up," and "44. Do a Front Dive," just to name a few. I think these list items are likely relics of the dated gender stereotype that men need to be fit and strong in order to be "real men". While I do agree that these skills are wonderful things to be able to do if you are able, I don't agree with the implication that the ability to do these things are things that every man, or human, for that matter needs to be able to do in order to be "competent and effective," as the article claims. I think a simple remedy for this would be either removing these physical fitness skills from all three of our hypothetical lists. Or, if we wanted to maintain these list items, the problem could be solved by simply reframing of the article title to something more inclusive, such as "100 Useful Skills for Humans to Know," which would eliminate the words "every" and "man".