Feminism had its cultural zeitgeist moment in Malta as the husbands of HSBC Bank employees took to the kitchen to “create appreciation of not only food but of women”.

The “unique experience” was organised by Banking on Women, an association within the bank. It involved a cooking class where the husbands “swapped normal duties for chef knives and cooked up tantalising meals for their better halves”, according to a statement.

The uniqueness of the event as it was defined was that it “chipped away at the stereotype of male inability to work in the kitchen”. It was meant to promote the message that women are “too often seen as the leading hand inside the kitchens of Maltese homes”.

Finally, women are getting the ‘feminism’ they never asked for.

University lecturer Carmen Sammut said such events tended to reinforce stereotypes rather than challenging them. This caricature died years ago. “I no longer get angry at such events that take us back to a message some 20 years ago. I choose to laugh at such things now,” she said.

Women are getting the ‘feminism’ they never asked for

The event was innovative in a bland sort of way, if you have never read anything about feminism, except what its detractors purport that it is about.

The event seems to be more of a reaction to a type of feminism that exists largely in individual minds, rather than reality. In fact, the cooking class for the men was led by Jesmond Atkins, a lecturer in food preparation at the Institute of Tourism Studies.

It is common knowledge that the world of chefs is largely dominated by men, a twist on the “uniqueness” of the event.

The Banking on Women association, an HSBC women’s group, said the event aimed to “actively support women in realising their career ambitions within the bank, as well as other life goals”.

The statement seems to miss the point that feminism has never been about making women feel good or supporting everything they do: it’s a political and social movement for equality.