Cooking and the rigid gender roles! Sinoyolo Sifo proves that society is wrong!

 It is surprising that even in the 21st century, there are rigid gender roles assignments. Even though women now have stepped out of the house and taken up challenging outside jobs, men still are reluctant to enter the kitchen and cook for themselves, leave aside cooking for others! They still think it as an act of disrepute and dishonor if they enter the kitchen. And such feelings are inculcated usually by the mother, father, immediate family members, relatives, friends, and the society at large! Even if a man tries to break this stereotype willingly, he is prevented from doing so by society! 

Cooking and the men of today

Men of today still consider it below their dignity to cook meals for themselves. They are unable to fend for themselves if any of their female relatives who does this role is out of home or town for some reason. But such dependency on a female for food is considered a norm. In fact, it is created by the society itself and most commonly and sadly by one's parents. It is usually the mother who prevents the son from going into the kitchen to make something to eat. Such prohibition is often seen in the families of Asia and also some parts of the USA and Europe. 

Cooking husband [Source: Foodal]

But the society and its individuals do not realize that it would be in the benefit of the society if both genders are able to cook at least for themselves. When a female can go out of her way and earn for the family in times of need and crisis, why cannot a man also offer a helping hand in the kitchen? And most importantly, why does society not change its thinking in this matter! Such progressive thinking will be useful and healthy for society. Why make a simple cooking an ego issue? After all, cooking is not a hard task. And it is not that men are unable to master this skill and art. And the proof of their capacity can be found from the fact that most of the famous chefs in the world are males!!!

Sinoyolo Sifo and his love for cooking

Sinoyolo Sifo is a 30-year-old pharmacist from Durban. He graduated with a degree in pharmacy from the Nelson Mandela University situated in Port Elizabeth in 2013. He and his wife moved to Durban in 2018 and he works as a pharmacy manager there. And his way of creative expression is cooking. He believes strongly that cooking is an art. One needs to visualize the dish before one goes ahead to execute it. 

Sonoyolo was born in Mthatha in the Eastern Cape. He always had a passion for cooking and this he acquired from his father, Mthutuzeli Sifo who is a farmer and a butcher. He has a chain of butchery shops and also sells vegetables to the local supermarkets. The young Sinoyolo used to help his father in it and developed an interest in experimenting in the kitchen. He says: 

"I've always loved cooking. In my youth, I used to experiment with some dishes, but I never took it seriously."  

Sinoyolo Sifo [Source: eNCA]

Sinoyolo has taken to social media this year and started an Instagram account called Sifo The Cooking Husband. In this, he shares easy recipes for husbands and also provides some cooking advice and tips to them. The young entrepreneur said: 

"I think I am trying to break that stereotype to try and encourage more males to be active in the kitchen. In the olden days, females were in the kitchen. mostly because men had to work. But now everyone is working you have to share domestic responsibilities equally." 

Sinoyolo and his wife and dreams

The young cook met his wife Nondumiso at the university. And in fact, Nondumiso stole his heart with her delicious cooking. They had met 6 years ago at the university campus residence. Sinoyolo recalls: 

"My wife cooks amazing food, to be honest. What made us date in the first place was her cooking."

And she is also supportive of his dreams and wishes. He wants to open a restaurant in the near future. But the young cook also admits that he learned things by trial and error. He used to be not good at it first but now he is better in many ways. He said: 

"When I started cooking, I used to burn the food all the time. One evening I was cooking dinner for my friends, and I burned six steaks. I was so angry at myself and I wanted to redeem myself, so I actually left the house and went to go buy more."

Sinoyolo [Source: Food for fmanzi]

His dedication is appreciable. His advice to those men interested in cooking is that they should follow their hearts and instincts. He also has plans to start cooking classes, especially for husbands. If he can do it, why can other husbands not do it? If not for others, at least for themselves!