Book covers showing husbands helping wives cook infuriates internet

Eyerolls galore

(Getty Images)

When you’re chopping up a cucumber in the kitchen, isn’t it so helpful to have someone standing behind you with their hand placed over yours as you’re holding a big, sharp knife?

No, not really.

According to these book covers, women love nothing more than having a man with his arms wrapped around them showing them the ropes in the kitchen, and the internet is infuriated.

Mike Rugnetta, a composer, programmer and performer living in Brooklyn, New York, pointed out how ridiculous these book covers are on Twitter by sharing three examples.

He wrote: “These poor women,” before adding even more examples below with the caption: “WHY ARE THERE SO MANY OF THESE.”

His initial tweet currently has 8,000 likes, and many people are joining in the conversation on Twitter to express their disbelief over the absurdity of the covers.

One Twitter user described it as “Mansplaining with food,” with another coining the apt term “deMANstrating”.

Another person wrote: “Oh that’s why some of my recipes don’t come out exactly right, I don’t cook with a man standing over me.”

While some may argue that the covers are attempting to eschew the stereotype that only women cook in the kitchen, others have explained that they’re still perpetuating the patronising idea that women need men to teach them how to do things correctly.

One person commented: “‘Only women can cook but only men know how to do it right’ is what all the covers with the men grabbing the knife from behind scream to me lol.”

Another Twitter user noted: “I love how they’ve almost progressed to the idea of men taking part in cooking, but at the same time, really not.”

As laughable as these covers are, they also say a great deal about the gendered stereotypes still rife in today’s society.