Having just about recovered from a cake coma after sampling thirteen (yes, thirteen) different baked goods at a Great British Bake Off viewing party, I feel just about ready to deal with a world without my favourite TV programme.
Much has been made of the reasons for its appeal, mostly due to the escapism it offers, where contestants biggest issues are misplacing their custard. And it’s true. I would never dream of making a wedding cake, Charlotte Royale or Hazelnut dacquoise. My contribution to the bake off party was a banana loaf brick, made with semi-mouldy fruit and several stolen ingredients from my housemates. It was both over baked on the outside and under baked in the middle.
But while it may offer escapism, as with all TV shows it provoked discussion. Ruby Tandoh, a runner up, published an article in the Guardian about the furore Bake Off had created. She called out the misogyny that she had experienced, both from the public and from professional chefs. Ruby faced accusations of flirting her way to the final and being deliberately self-deprecating in order to gain sympathy. As Tandoh writes, ‘so much of the criticism was gender specific’.
It wasn’t just Ruby who was subject to this spitefulness. Did you know Frances doesn’t have a boyfriend? It was something picked up on in a few articles. Because having a boyfriend is a benchmark of success, obviously. Accusations of Paul Hollywood and Ruby’s ‘flirtations’ seem to completely overlook the fact that Mary Berry was just as much a judge as Paul. Not much was made of any male contestants attempting to flirt their way to the final.
A campaign by the UN recently attempted to reveal what the Internet felt about women by typing phrases into Google and looking at what was most popular. Tellingly when ‘women need to…’ was entered into the search engine, the top searches were ‘be put in their place’, ‘be controlled’ and ‘be disciplined’.
I think Ruby has a point and that the campaign by the UN supports it too. Traits which are deemed ‘masculine’ like determination and self assuredness were seen in all of the contestants. You don’t get to the final of a competition such as Bake Off without hard work. But the ones who were pulled apart for it were the women.
Even when attitudes seemed to be more positive in celebrating an all women final, it was still infantilising. ‘Go on Girls’ said some taglines. At 31, 30 and 21, Frances, Kimberly and Ruby can hardly be considered girls, and treating them as such is demeaning.
Furthermore, the focus on their appearance was unrelenting. I’m guilty of it as well. I know I commented when Ruby wore the same blouse only weeks apart, but I could not tell you a single thing that any of the male contestants wore. I doubt I’d have noticed if they’d worn a flour sack. Sorry Ruby.
These all seem like off hand comments but they reveal a culture of sexism and gender inequality. Ruby’s article has been well received by many, and I hope it leads to a reassessment of the language used in commenting on women. Ruby says she is going to ‘have her cupcake and eat it’, and I can’t say I blame her.