Oh Noes! Gen Y Women Are Losing “Female” Skills

By Alex in Everything Else on Jan 31, 2011 at 11:17 am

A secret crisis is brewing in Australia: Gen Y women are losing the traditional "female" skills such as cooking, ironing, and sewing:

Only 51 per cent of women aged under 30 can cook a roast compared with 82 per cent of baby boomers.
Baking lamingtons* is a dying art with 20 per cent of Gen Y capable of whipping up the Aussie classic, down from 45 per cent for previous generations.

Social researcher Mark McCrindle said: "Women of today tend to be busier, juggling more roles, and are quite prepared to compromise a bit of the homemade just to save some time.

"They also have a lot more disposable income compared with their mums and their grandmothers so buying a cake mix or lamingtons ready-made is not a big deal."

But the news ain’t all bad: these Gen Y women are taking on new "manly" skills:

As well as working full or part-time, they are doing tasks previously done by men.
More than 70 per cent of women under 30 say they often take out the bins, 77 per cent mow the lawn and 70 per cent claim they wash the car.

Link – via Fark

*Lamington is an Australian sponge cake

Tags: female skills, Gen Y

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GeekMan
Jan 31st, 2011 at 3:07 pm
Cooking is the new “manly” skill.
teafordinner
Jan 31st, 2011 at 4:01 pm
i thought losing these skills was something women were intentionally trying to do. how to explain all the shoulder-pads that are now in land-fills from the 1980′s? how else do you explain http://goo.gl/0rqJp (Microwave for One)
angstrom
Jan 31st, 2011 at 4:12 pm
Congratulations to the womenfolk for managing to learn our manly skills, because they are particularly difficult. Taking the bins out, in particular, took me years to master. Even now I often forget to do it.
Nimrod
Jan 31st, 2011 at 4:22 pm
Women have been losing these skills for at least 4 generations and what more, they are PROUD of it.

However this article completely misses the recent resurgence of Knitting skills in gen y and gen x women.
Vonskippy
Jan 31st, 2011 at 5:44 pm
Let me know when they forget how to have babies – then I’ll worry.
Bearfoot
Jan 31st, 2011 at 6:33 pm
yay for getting rid of pointless gender seperation?
Cheryl by Cheryl
Jan 31st, 2011 at 7:06 pm
It’s about time. I’ll put this in the “good news” category. Maybe men will learn to do for themselves.
Sung
Jan 31st, 2011 at 7:48 pm
Nimrod-Completely with you.

Why does the article pose this issue as if it’s a “bad” thing? Ugh.
Randi
Jan 31st, 2011 at 8:51 pm
I suck at ironing, i never separate any clothes when i wash them, i can cook if following directions counts, i hate washing dishes, not a fan of kids and apparently i would die a lonely woman in the 50′s. I realize the post is rooted in sarcasm but it surprises me that there are still people out there who find house work a necessity for a woman. I do as much as I need to be independent and that’s where it ends. My bf doesn’t expect me to wash his clothes, have his dinner ready or any of that other bs. We both work full time and if he’s hungry he can make his own food. Don’t get me wrong we share and take turns but I’m not about to make a 3 course meal, cook breakfast and make him lunch if he’s just gonna sit on his ass when he gets home.
Mr. Awesome
Feb 1st, 2011 at 2:08 am
I dated a girl once that attempted to reheat lasagna (that I had made) by dropping it into boiling water. When I inquired to why we now have chucky tomato soup instead of lasagna she stated “I thought that is how you cook pasta.” Sadly this is basically the same story with all of my american girlfriends with a different punchline.

It boils down like this…. If I am running late for work and ask my significant other to quickly iron my shirt well I hop in the shower and you tell me you don’t know how…… Don’t bother being here when I get home this evening.

The same goes for sewing on a button, making my favorite foods, brewing coffee and put together a grocery list.

Im not asking for Martha Stewart but why would I keep a woman around that is as useful as a 11th toe.
ted
Feb 1st, 2011 at 7:33 am
Oh, Australia is so forward thinking.

But there is a non-sexist point here. Society has been putting down the traditional female roles for so long, that we’re forgetting how to fend for ourselves. We become reliant on pre-packaged, processed, less healthy foods because it’s easier and quicker.

And it can’t be blamed on full-time jobs, because everybody can learn these skills while still young. Nobody’s teaching them.
Will L
Feb 1st, 2011 at 12:52 pm
How many feminists does it take to screw in a lightbulb?
slander
Feb 2nd, 2011 at 8:15 am
So Australia is in danger of losing the art of sammich-making?

/ducks
Aaron
Feb 2nd, 2011 at 9:15 am
This is a late post and nobody is gonna read it, but it will make me feel better to post it.

Why is it a good thing to be losing the ability to sew, or to iron shirts? I was single until I was in my late 20s so I learned how to sew, and iron, and cook, and vacuum, and do “manly” things like hammer nails, I guess, and chew on 2x4s and rub sandpaper across my bare buttocks.

As a 31 year old man, many of my peers (male and female) lack basic skills like ironing and sewing. These things aren’t hard to do. Men AND women should know how to do them.
Mr. Awesome
Feb 13th, 2011 at 12:49 am
@ Aaron

Sounds about right!

But noone is teaching their kids any of this stuff.

My kids are still a bit to young but I plan on them knowing how to do alot of different things (gardening, welding, how to measure and cut wood, basic electrical knowledge, how to sew, cook, basic auto repair and maintenance ect.). I basically want them to be able to do things for themselves and not have to rely on someone else to change their oil in their car or change a wall socket.

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