Everyone, This Is A Kitchen...

Obesity is a problem.  It's now even considered a disease according to the AMA.  Lap-band surgery, diet pills, stomach stapling are now a normal thing for a person to receive.  Even unsafe diet pills are now a norm.  Exercise and proper diet have seem to just go by the wayside.  Everyone sees the commercial for the diet pills where the sub-100 pound blonde on a beach lost so much weight by taking a pill or drinking a juice.  They just don't see that fine print when the before and after photo pops up and reads "compared to just regular diet and exercise".  Everyone wants instant results.  People would rather be given a fish, than taught to fish.

This bitch sucks.

Now, before I go into how or why obesity went from being just a description to being a "contagious illness", we need to look at how our family structure has changed over the years.  Men/husbands have worked jobs outside of the home for the most part.  Women/wives have also worked outside of the home, mostly the same hours as their men.  And that's great.  It really is good for families to have more money coming in.  Some families don't need 2 earning incomes, but the majority do in this era.  There in lies a conflict.

How we got fat was an unintended consequence stemming from no one resuming kitchen duties for themselves, their mates, or their kids.  Mom and Pop come home after an 8 hour shift, don't feel like cooking, and don't have the energy to cook for another 90 minutes and include healthy food groups.  "Hey honey, wanna just get some pizza, or takeout, or hop over to (chain restaurant in the area)?" "Sure, you drive" says the other.  The family gets seated, eats plates of offerings that can pass for food, and then the family has a lighter wallet by the end.

This isn't to say that feminism caused obesity.  I'm saying Men not taking over kitchen duties resulted in obesity.  Let's look at the labor statistics: women are staying in school longer, earning more degrees, and getting more jobs than men are, AND becoming the primary earner!  But where are the stay-at-home Dads a.k.a. the greatest gig a man can wish for?  Why aren't they swapping roles?  Men can do anything but breastfeed.

It's important that everyone that feels like they are getting unhealthier, stop, look in their kitchen, and learn how to cook.  Whether it's Julia Child's books, instructional classes, or bringing in an elder to teach a treasured family recipe, it's important to pass on cooking lessons that can translate into survival lessons.

Now, I have thought long and hard.  If primary earner men were to have a role-reversal with their wives, meaning that men would become the ones dusting, turning down beds, cooking suppers, do laundry, cleaning the kitchen, making lunches, and everything in between that a Depression-Era housewife would assume given that the men worked all day, I think we men and women might become closer in their relationships.  I say, let's (as men) let women run this world!

Why not?  Here are some reasons:
-Sports would be on during the daytime, eliminating the rush for night games and eventually saving electricity in most ballparks and stadiums.
-Soaps, talk shows, and whatever shows women watch would move to after 6pm.  The cast of the View, The Chat, The Talk and whatever would be recast with Ex-Wrestlers, retired basketball players, and stand-ups.
-Men would FINALLY know what the mailman's name is.
-Telemarketing would cease to exist since Men don't buy shit over the phone unless it's funneling beer through a hat or keeping nacho cheese from congealing.
-Cars would get smaller, and designed for a woman, maybe even by a woman.
-I would like to see heavy lifting jobs be carried out by men.  I don't think a 110 lb woman will do much good lifting a fat passed out man from a burning apartment building.

What I'm saying is that men and women would be benefiting from their strengths in the Internet era since women have begun to surpass men.  When the post-Internet era comes, whatever that produces, maybe men will rise up again.  But for now, it's time we all learn about what's on our plate.