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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsWhy Do Men Carve The Turkey?
Since we are deep into all the other threads/topics, might as well add one more-----
As Thanksgiving approaches, I am struck by something I see throughout the media (including print ads, television ads, movies, television shows, and more). The man is always the one who carves the turkey.
This is something of a reversal of the classic media rule that "women cook the food and men eat the food." (Paula Deen and Rachael Ray cook; Guy Fieri eats.) Although I suppose the question there is whether carving a turkey counts as preparing a meal or eating it.
http://femaletalk.com/article/why-do-men-carve-turkey
treestar
(82,383 posts)it was traditional - maybe it's the man who should handle the knives in the house. Something about carving is OK - it's not cooking and is masculine enough. The man is the head of the house and head of the table, so he should do the honors, or something like that.
snooper2
(30,151 posts)outside of that I'm not responsible for anyone else's fuck-ups
Buzz Clik
(38,437 posts)It's actually a menial job that no one who actually cooks cares to do. So, dump it on the slob who hasn't done jack all day.
snooper2
(30,151 posts)Buzz Clik
(38,437 posts)Dammit all. Nobody ever tells me anything.
snooper2
(30,151 posts)you know nothing...
Scootaloo
(25,699 posts)Do you get your reality from sitcoms or something?
Ghost in the Machine
(14,912 posts)MannyGoldstein
(34,589 posts)Anatomical thing, I think.
snooper2
(30,151 posts)Arugula Latte
(50,566 posts)Fire Walk With Me
(38,893 posts)FarCenter
(19,429 posts)Recovered Repug
(1,518 posts)I read it on the internet, so it must be true.
raging_moderate
(147 posts)to make us look bad?? Without fail, any thanksgiving dinner I am at I am always, and mean ALWAYS, expected to carve the damn turkey. I must have missed that day in med school, so I actually had to go online to figure out how to do it half-way correctly so as to not embarrass myself too much. Hint - try cutting off all of the white meat from the carcass in one piece first, then slice it up nice and pretty (in theory anyway).
Paul E Ester
(952 posts)liberal_at_heart
(12,081 posts)Sometimes my husband gets in a hurry and wants to carve it while it is still steaming hot. If he wants to burn his fingers, go ahead. When I carve it, I let it stand for a little while so it doesn't burn my fingers.
Paul E Ester
(952 posts)you'll lose a lot of flavor in the juice that runs out. If you wait a few minutes the juices gel up and stay with the meat.
Buzz Clik
(38,437 posts)My brother-in-law lost his right arm in Vietnam and had one of the prosthetic hook thingies. He could carry the bird right from the oven to the cutting board on his "hook", and she simply handed him the knife.
alphafemale
(18,497 posts)Buzz Clik
(38,437 posts)But, it seemed like a fitting tale for this thread.
pipi_k
(21,020 posts)It's not a laughing matter, and I really don't mean to laugh, but...
hahahahahah!!!!
The mental movie I get from this is awesome
PS...apologies for my warped sense of humor.
Occulus
(20,599 posts)In my family whoever was closest did it. Picked up the electric knife and bzzzzzz.
Oh no, wait. My mom had prepared four other dishes which she got to the table simultaneously with my father, who.... oh no, wait my mom got all the food ready at the same time with the help of her mother-in-law, who despite stereotypes had raised five kids and was one unsinkable batty old bitch who got shit done.
I don't know which Thanksgiving is "proper" and "not sexist": before or after most of the women in my extended family were dead and gone
Each period was different
help
Katashi_itto
(10,175 posts)kwassa
(23,340 posts)This comes after Thanksgiving.
winter is coming
(11,785 posts)and it's a toss-up who does the carving in my household. Then again, a lot of media images make it look like one person carves and then plates and food get passed around. Damned stupid way to serve a crowd. We always put the food out on a sideboard and let people take a plate and get what they want. It's a lot faster, and if you really like or can't stand X, you can adjust your portion accordingly.
Apophis
(1,407 posts)I get mine pre-sliced in a bag.
Kalidurga
(14,177 posts)It won't matter in my house though. We won't ever be having turkey here again since I gave up meat. But, back in the day I have seen many women carving turkey's and I did it myself on the holidays were we had turkey. So, I am pretty sure it's a movie thing.
spanone
(135,861 posts)guess i forgot to change my calendar....
liberal_at_heart
(12,081 posts)malaise
(269,157 posts)Still shaking my head - men have never always carved the turkey or any other bird.
mythology
(9,527 posts)because the carving of the turkey skill is on the Y chromosome. It's a special skill that the womenfolk just can't handle on account of the intricacy.
msongs
(67,433 posts)Z_I_Peevey
(2,783 posts)Nicely done
olddots
(10,237 posts)So pigs carve the turkey ? do turkeys carve the pigs ?
I'm so confused with this subject . Do pigs hold the door for turkeys ?
jmowreader
(50,562 posts)This is Norman Rockwell's famous painting "Freedom from Want."
Notice two things about it: the turkey has come to the table in one piece (these days, who does that? Who has a table that big anymore?) and Grandfather, the head of the household for this festive meal, has all the equipment sitting there to carve the bird. Oh, and he's wearing a suit. Once again, who does that now?
The Traditional Thanksgiving Meal is cooked by the matriarch of the family, and carved by the patriarch. His laying the slices of succulent turkey on each family member's plate symbolizes his role in giving the family a decent life.
treestar
(82,383 posts)Exactly.
Fawke Em
(11,366 posts)That family has my china.
Actually, I inherited my china from my great-grandmother, so it was probably purchased sometime around the time this picture was painted, so it makes sense.
Kali
(55,019 posts)sure the skin was nice right when it came out of the oven (and everybody should have just stood there picking at it until it was gone) but I usually cook turkey covered and breast down until the meat falls off the bone. not picturesque, but damn fine eating. whoever is handy can pile onto a serving plate, but it sure as hell isn't gong to slice like some ad on the teevee.
JDPriestly
(57,936 posts)is too exhausted to pick up the knife. That's why. It's not that my husband could not or would not cook the turkey. It's that I like to do it. And if he cuts it, we are all happy.
onpatrol98
(1,989 posts)My husband always carves, because I never want to. So, in my role as mom and chief mischief maker, I hand him the knife and announce to the family that their father is going to carve the turkey. Then we all sit together as part of a collective joke and watch him battle the bird. Sometimes he wins, sometimes the bird wins. But, regardless a great time is had by everyone...well, everyone except the bird.
JDPriestly
(57,936 posts)quaker bill
(8,224 posts)to carve roasted meat on a hot line. It was a cleaner job than carving raw meat, but not as much fun as baking.
Honeycombe8
(37,648 posts)LeftofObama
(4,243 posts)Since I love to cook I am the one who makes the turkey (and a damn good one too, I might add). After the turkey comes out of the oven I ask the first adult I see male or female if they know how to carve a turkey. If they say, "Well, I think you're supposed to start by....", I tell them to go get started carving. If they say, "No, I don't know anything about that sort of thing." I tell them to go find someone who does because dinner will be ready in a few minutes.
The Straight Story
(48,121 posts)That is the only motivation men have when it comes to women. Even if a man does not know it, he is being sexist and mind raping women every time he looks at them and does not see them in his mind's eye as a man.
Us men are terrible beings and women should just love women. And film it.
Ghost in the Machine
(14,912 posts)This might turn into a good day all around!
Peace,
Ghost
olddots
(10,237 posts)DU has to get its sense of humor back .
dipsydoodle
(42,239 posts)it should be done by whoever is best at doing it.
kdmorris
(5,649 posts)My husband does the cooking around here, too, so he cooks AND carves the turkey. I tried a couple of times, but it looked like I put the thing through a wood chipper, so it seems best to let him continue it so that they turkey looks edible.
onpatrol98
(1,989 posts)Had I been drinking coffee, my computer would be plastered.
bike man
(620 posts)chunks from the whole dead bird is so zombie-like and many people would rather avoid that.
Bay Boy
(1,689 posts)Ghost in the Machine
(14,912 posts)... parents' house, 3 doors up from me, but mom likes to carve it. I'll carve it sometimes, if she isn't feeling well, bot other than that, she enjoys doing it. As for the hams, we haven't much worried about that lately since I've been buying the spiral sliced honey hams.
For most of my life, my mom has cooked the Holiday meals, but that all changed when I moved close to them about 12 years or so ago. Now, I cook the turkey or hame, the stuffing, green beans and mashed potatoes & gravy, leaving mom to cook pumpkin pies, sweet potato casserole and, sometimes, corn.
BTW... my Grandmother always carved the turkey and hams at her house, too, so I have no idea where this "men carving the turkey" bunk comes from, but I can take a wild guess just from the link...
Ghost
MadrasT
(7,237 posts)In my family, the turkey gets carved by whoever is nearby and volunteers to do it.
Puzzledtraveller
(5,937 posts)Some people still take them to be a representation of life in America.
eShirl
(18,502 posts)I even got in on the wood splitting; that's good exercise. One of my brothers has always "got in on" the cooking, too. Nobody ever complained.
Puzzledtraveller
(5,937 posts)My dad never carved no turkey, jive turkey maybe, but no turkey.
Helen Reddy
(998 posts)What do you carve plastic with? Pliers? Maybe tin snips.
ellie
(6,929 posts)I carve the turkey. I also slice up pies, cakes, and quiches as well as dole out the food.
Butterbean
(1,014 posts)yourout
(7,532 posts)peace13
(11,076 posts)He makes the gravy, drains the potatoes, and carves the turkey. Oh, I forgot to mention he loves to do the food shopping especially at holiday time.. His dad sat and ate the meals that were prepared for him. My son, doesn't know what all the fuss about holiday's is and while he prepares nothing, eats very little of the holiday feast. There is no hope. Tradition shifts from generation to generation....not always in the direction 'one' would call forward.
Little Star
(17,055 posts)Noooooo. My husband was so into the art of carving turkey that he looked for different methods to carve and found that he liked Bobby Flay's method best. I agreed with him, Bobby's way is great. I just wish he had been as into preparing the meal and cleaning up the mess! Funny how that works.
http://www.recipedirect.net/cooking-videos-mainmenu-46/25-poultry-cooking-videos/80-how-to-carve-a-turkey.html
Happy Thanksgiving!
Squinch
(50,993 posts)and he NEVER drank water. No. Never.
Did all these "stop calling me sexist when all I want is to be admired" threads put me into a coma? Is it Thanksgiving already?
toddaa
(2,518 posts)Carve your own damn meat.
d_b
(7,463 posts)matt819
(10,749 posts)Because if I don't carve the turkey, it doesn't get carved. I would have to put it on the table, and we would pick at it until it was gone. Come to think of it, that may not be a bad idea. Check in with me after Thanksgiving to see if I give this a try.
flvegan
(64,412 posts)TheBlackAdder
(28,211 posts)The men in my family generally cook the Thanksgiving meals.
For me, I don't care who picks up the knife and serves... as long as it's not me.
I'm too busy trying not to burn the last minute dinner rolls or grabbing things from the kitchen.
===
I have noticed that those who do grab the knife are the ones who like to be in control.
onpatrol98
(1,989 posts)Thanksgiving???
What month is this...clearly, I have been asleep at the wheel. I haven't done any Christmas shopping, either.
pipi_k
(21,020 posts)Mr Pipi do it because he's much better at dismembering dead bodies than I am...
1-Old-Man
(2,667 posts)My wife cooks more now than she ever used to, I've been the primary cook for a very long time. I have always enjoyed making Thanksgiving dinner but when it comes to carving the bird you may as well hand the knife to a monkey as have me take a stab at it. My wife is more than happy to dismember the unfortunate fowl but mostly its been our son who has taken over the duty; he also does the cooking at most of the other yearly get-togethers.
sylvi
(813 posts)Nobody in my family has ever carved a turkey at the table, Norman Rockwell style. It gets whacked up in the kitchen by whoever is cooking and set out with the rest of the food. There's never been much formality when it comes to eating, unless you want to count saying Grace as a formality. Certainly not in the presentation. Maybe it's a Southern Thang.
snooper2
(30,151 posts)I just meant doing it period....
I do it on the counter, put a plate full of white meat and another with legs and some dark meat (which I am the only who ends up eating) and people come get it
hughee99
(16,113 posts)When my mother took the turkey out of the oven, she carved it. When my father did, he carved it. It was always done in the kitchen and not part of some display.
NNN0LHI
(67,190 posts)fizzgig
(24,146 posts)it's not something my sister or i have really bothered to learn
arely staircase
(12,482 posts)which is both deadly and phallic).
WinkyDink
(51,311 posts)Jamastiene
(38,187 posts)You can't rightly eat a turkey that crosses the road after it has been cooked, now, can you?
See? There is a reason for everything. At my house, I do the cooking, carving, and plating up the food, so it will last a couple meals. That way I don't have to damn wash dishes so fast and cook again so soon. The only man at my house, though, is my cat. He doesn't care who carves the damn bird, as long as he gets a few bites and some gravy to go along with it.
NaturalHigh
(12,778 posts)My wife won't let me near one.
snooper2
(30,151 posts)so then they can carve
mercuryblues
(14,537 posts)When the meal finally makes it to the table, no one in my house is stupid enough to put a carving knife and fork in my hand.
one_voice
(20,043 posts)my husband would fuck it up beyond all recognition, and he knows it, that's why wants me to do it. I cook it too.
nolabear
(41,991 posts)Kidding! Kidding! I think it's just tradition and an archaic nod to men as head of the family. I like it. I'm usually whipped by then. But Mr. Bear and I are secure in our division, pretty much. We both take equally outrageous advantage of one another when we don't want to take on a task.