The ‘Lazy-Women’ Myth and the Microwave
The ‘Lazy-Women’ Myth and the Microwave
Hello, as you may have read in the bio, this is my small effort to shed light on the mundane objects and things that occupy women’s worlds, which are numerous. However, I want to start my page with a post on domestic gadgets. Reading about these objects may not be as fascinating; for instance, who would really want to know about the evolution of LPG or gas stoves? Or the life of a middle-class home before the arrival of geysers? What do standing mops mean to us?
As a feminist scholar, I can’t help but point out the reasons behind this invisibility or what makes domestic gadgets seem boring. A major reason is that their users are also “invisible,” as a scholar pointed out while documenting the history of washing machines in Cuba. Although today we live in a world where women are ‘hypervisible,’ many facets of their lives remain lesser known.
For my blog's inaugural post, I've chosen to delve into the world of microwaves. You might wonder why I've picked microwaves as the subject of my first exploration. Aside from needing to start somewhere, microwaves have recently come under much scrutiny in the WhatsApp University. I'm no scientist, so I don’t plan to debunk any myths or refer to science journals. Instead, I aim to share the rumours circulating about microwaves, or what I like to call "myth-making," along with my own personal anecdotes and journey with the microwave. I will come to these myths later, but to give an idea, microwaves apparently radiate harmful waves that can cause cancer.
When the microwave first entered my life, it appeared out of nowhere. There were no grand launches or flashy advertisements, which contrasts the meticulously planned gadget releases we see today. Given my somewhat sheltered existence in a boarding school, I might be mistaken about its presence in the advertising world. I encountered this fascinating device during one of my visits home. Beyond its primary function of reheating meals, I was intrigued by its potential. It was in the pages of Grehshobha that I first discovered the magical ability of this machine to make dhoklas. I jotted down the recipe and gathered basic ingredients, which weren’t as readily available back then, especially in small towns (I'm reminiscing about the early 2000s in Jind).
Desperate to prove my culinary skills (a self-inflicted complex partly originating from relatives who thought “hostel girls” were not good at housework), I embarked on my culinary journey using a blue plastic microwave-safe container—a complimentary gift from Samsung. The result? A dense, unrisen loaf of dhokla. Naturally, with practice, my dhoklas would have improved; the microwave was blameless.
On the other hand, my mom continued experimenting, grilling arbi and bhindi in the microwave and even trying her hand at baking. Sometimes, neighbours would come to learn about cakes using the microwave. When I was home, we would try making pizzas. In those days, health concerns were not something one thought about obsessively; the use of maida was not given much thought, let alone cooking methods or the potential dangers of microwaves. However, my grandmother (it sounds really odd to say grandmother, so I will stick to Dadi) still disapproves of using the microwave to heat water, just as she's sceptical of electric kettles. Once she decides to remove it from the slab, one has to do a lot of digging to locate the kettle. I love this hide-and-seek game with my dadi.
Fast forward to 2018, another recipe was added, which I picked up from my sasural: microwave idlis. They turned out delicious, and with ready-made batter easily available, it became a convenient choice. More shortcuts joined the list, including steaming bhutta, vegetables and heating water during my peak laziness in winter. Then, news surfaced about people in Japan reportedly "throwing microwaves." Not selling or giving them away, but tossing microwaves. Imagine a street filled lined with discarded microwaves!
Naturally, the first ones to receive the news are those who get these forwards, consume these articles, make sure never to miss out on any panicky news, and amplify the message as their "good morning" message. I did not think much of it until one of the family members asked me not to heat their food in the microwave. I was ticked off. My immediate thought: if it was this unsafe, why were only the Japanese throwing them? There is no such news from our neighbours or other developed nations who are the crusaders for such gadgets.
The point I want to make here is that regardless of whether it's safe or not, it's often women who are affected the most. I eventually read articles that countered such views. A few days later, the same family member cautioned against heating chapatis on the gas stove, claiming it could lead to cancer. The alternative, apparently, was to make phulkas (cooking on tawa instead of direct flame). That would leave only the traditional chullah using dung cakes as the safest option. After all, women seemingly have infinite time, so why should they opt for shortcuts? Why is Modi ji even busy promoting Ujjawala at every petrol pump (a scheme that provided access to ‘safer’ cooking options like LPG).
The point here is that the microwave is just an example of how women are pitted against technology. Anything labour-saving is not seen as safe, or women are immediately labelled as lazy. Remember how, in The Great Indian Kitchen, the notorious father-in-law insisted that batter made in an electric grinder was not as good? Because until women have not made themselves sweat or moved their limbs, the food is not good enough.
The same debate may be for other things; my mom has always used a food processor for aata (flour) for as long as I can remember, and I am proud of her. She's a rare woman who has worked out the proportions right and even trained family members to make atta, all kinds of atta, mixed, multigrain, mixed with greens, palak, methi, mooli, you name it. Unfortunately, the Inalsa processor is somehow not the same, and she is struggling to find a sturdier machine, and I hope she does. Is she losing out on making muscles because of the processor? She can walk, exercise, or rest with the time saved. And I wish I could tell the world that doing housework alone does not make anyone “fit”.
In my coursework in Gender Studies, invisibility has been a great concern. Somehow, gadgets and material culture have not been extensively documented in the Indian context. For instance, there are extensive accounts of how eating and cleaning have changed in the US and Europe with technology. There are articles on the history of the dustbin and how it changes women's lives. There are also articles on deep freezers. There are articles on how machines were advertised, etc. I feel this should be extensively noted. While there are articles floating about the microwave, there are instances of it being gifted as a dowry item. There will also be contradictions: washing machines, but haath-ki-dhulai is better, everything homemade, handmade is better. Choppers cut it too fine; standing mops are not good. The ready-made dahi is not good; ghar wali is better. I am not debating here which is better, which is not, but inevitably, women are seen as lazy when they switch to gadgets, but do they really?
Thus, what should you do when you come across these texts? Do your research. Think about how much change the gadget has brought. Is it making you lazy? As part of this exercise, I wish to know about the relatively unexplored history of microwaves in India. If you want to share your story, please comment in the comment section. My larger aim here is to build an archive about domestic gadgets and one day even have a museum dedicated to the material worlds of women.