So Long Betty Crocker!
- Suzanne Miller
- Jan 23
- 2 min read
by Suzanne Miller
From the moment of birth, swaddled in your sweet pink receiving blanket, the groundwork begins. You’re held aloft, admired, yet soon you will be steeped in the strong brew of patriarchy that will fill you up, absorbed by every fiber of your being.
You might grow up a girly girl, shopping, dressing up, enjoying the attentions of men. Or you might always be swimming against the tide, determined to build a model, invent something new, or lead a committee.
No matter the life you lead, the time may come when you learn to spot the patriarchal apparatus, recognize the misogyny; to see clearly how we’ve all been shaped by society into the women we have become. You can decry the systemic repression of your birthright, reject the centering of men in your life.
Theoretically, that is.
In reality, it’s now an integral part of who you are. It’s like you’re sixteen, baking a birthday cake for the boyfriend you adore, and you add a cup of sugar to the flour. You mix it thoroughly just the way the recipe says, the way your mother taught you. Then you decide to stop, to try to separate the ingredients. Can you do it?
You carry on. The years roll by. You marry, have children of your own. You add a couple of eggs to your batter and blend them into the mix. Can you separate those ingredients now?
Life happens. You reach your fifties, or your sixties, or seventies even. You’re tired, bone-weary, and you’re not sure why. You wake up one morning, gaze at your face in the mirror, lined from the cares of daily living. You surprise yourself, and out loud you say, “Hell no! I’m nobody’s cookie dough.”
Times have changed. You’ve changed. You empty that mixing bowl down the kitchen sink. You write a new recipe.
You start again.
***
Suzanne Miller, a recently retired attorney, is a flash fiction/essay writer living a solitary life on the peaceful Connecticut shoreline. She is spending her newfound freedom polishing up a lifetime of stories, and has published pieces in The Rumen, ManifestStation, Tangled Locks, CafeLit, Moss Piglet, WildGreens, and surely magazine. Suzanne is also a Writer Advice’s 2024 Microfiction Contest winner. You can link to her Substack account here.
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