It's Madame who cooks...

We may be getting a female president soon in France, and French women do have a respectable employment rate compared to most of their European counterparts. But equality has not reached la cuisine.

I do all of the cooking in my family, so it's a good thing I like it. I'm not complaining -- it is by far the most enjoyable household task, and my husband is a pretty lame cook. But I do tend to wince a bit when I realize that virtually ALL of my female friends here do the same.

Tradition, tradition: while France's top chefs are, for the most part, men, it's the women who still do most of the cooking at home.

If you don't believe me, listen to the words of an article from Famili , one of several French magazines devoted to happy familly life. The title is "Cuisine: la femme propose, l'homme dispose" -- roughly translated: "Cooking: the woman makes proposals, the man has the final word." It's a play on the French proverb "L'homme propose, Dieu dispose" -- so you can see what sort of parallel is being set up here.

The article blithely accepts the fact that French women do the lion's share of home cooking and adds that when French men do take to the kitchen, they manage to slink out of "peripheral acts" such as grocery shopping and clean-up. It goes on to present the results of a study by a French sociologist, which explains that while women are indeed the "mistresses of the kitchen", their "culinary decisions" are always influenced by what their hubbies desire.

And is the typical French hubby appreciative of the efforts? Mais non! Because he thinks his wife is making all of the decisions! The article does chirpily conclude that the men questioned do enjoy their wive's dishes, "prepared with love."

What century, what decade, what year was this article published in? 2006.