Workplace boredom is driving women back to the kitchen, claims historian Maggie Andrews

Speaking at the Hay festival, Maggie Andrews, author of The Acceptable Face of Feminism: 100 Years of the Women’s Institute, said that the feminist movement was ‘looking at the domestic in a way they didn’t 30 years ago.’

She said the domestic role of women was being reassessed by feminists following the realisation that paid work was no guarantee of personal satisfaction, the Times reports.

‘Both feminism and the Women’s Institute have come together a little bit in that domesticity isn’t such a bad thing as people thought or possibly that the workplace is not as much fun as we all thought,’ she said.

‘Elements of the domestic have become much sexier and are seen as an escape from the horrors of society. It has made feminists rethink themselves.’

Professor Andrews, an expert in cultural history from the University of Worcester, claims that the popularity of television shows such as The Great British Bake Off and the growing involvement of men in household chores had made domestic life ‘sexy’ again and increased its status in society. ...