struck by a random metaphor

[krait]

It just occurred to me that cooking may be a nearly-perfect metaphor for asexuality, in my case.

The more I think about it, the more parallels I notice!



- I don't particularly like cooking most of the time; I do it for economic or social reasons.
- Mostly I cook for myself, and don't want to change that.
- It's handier to cook once or twice a week in sufficient quantity that I don't need to do it the rest of the time.
- If somebody I were deeply attached to wanted me to cook for them, I'd probably do it on occasion. More often, I'd probably just offer them access to my recipe file and check on their progress periodically.
- The thought of cooking for someone I'm deeply attached to is sort of pleasing because it suggests that they find the food I make appealing; it would be something we did together to affirm our bond: both that one of us may request a favour from the other; and that we wish to spend time together.
- On the other hand, if someone I was deeply attached to never asked me to cook for them, I wouldn't feel as though something were missing. I might wonder if they hated my cooking style, but wouldn't be inclined to change it.
- For that matter, if I were never deeply attached to someone, I wouldn't feel something was lacking. Cooking for myself for the rest of my life, in whatever fashion I choose, is an appealing option.

Why does my brain hand me these things without warning? Now I'm going to feel slightly weird the next time I feed somebody...

Comments

[pebblerocker]

Cooking has been a perfect metaphor for two different things for me this week. I think it means I have a strong emotional reaction to food, more than that cooking is especially applicable to anything in particular!

[caecelia]

A fitting metaphor indeed! Are you going to work it out in a text? I'd be interested in seeing what you come up with . . . asexuality is close to my own heart . . .

[pantswarrior]

...Now that you mention it, works in my case. The idea of cooking stuff is kind of fun, but I generally have no interest in actually eating it when it's done, and most of the time even thinking about eating anything, whether cooked by myself or someone else, just makes me go "ugh, no thanks."

[krait]

Heh, I currently have no plans regarding this metaphor except to try to forget it before I next invite a friend to lunch. *grins*

[krait]

Yeah, I, uh, I suppose that may be because it's an integral part of staying alive -- food makes a great metaphor for lots of things because it's such a primal need/set of reactions? It's not like anyone isn't going to understand the concept of food or eating, so if you can get a more complex concept to match up to that, you can convey the underlying principles.

Never thought about how much cooking is a good metaphor for, before your comment, or about why that might be so! Now my brain wants to start a "cooking is like..." tag and start applying it to everything. *giggles*

[krait]

...I am made of FAIL, and your comment now makes a lot more sense!

Apparently, it is possible to bork one's HTML in such a way that you don't get an "Invalid Markup" error; instead you get all your text is invisible.

So the middle part of this entry? It now exists, and I feel very very silly, and probably will not stop facepalming till sometime next week.

Seriously LJ invisible text? What on earth why would you ever i don't even know but seriously why would you ever have no error message that is just bizarre

[krait]

Right! I like to read recipes, and sometimes I even watch cooking shows! But I'm not going to dash into the kitchen and start cooking, myself.

[caecelia]

Oh! Indeed, I completely missed out on the whole meat of your argument. I'm completely with you here: why on earth would invisible text be a standard error method?! *boggles*

More often, I'd probably just offer them access to my recipe file and check on their progress periodically.

*snorts* Am exactly the same, tbh.

I wouldn't feel as though something were missing. I might wonder if they hated my cooking style, but wouldn't be inclined to change it.

I really like how you build up the metaphor; it rings very true to me. Now I am itching to write a story with asexual!Snape along these lines . . . O_O

[krait]

*snorts* Am exactly the same, tbh.

Heh. I have been... revelling... in the (relatively) large amounts of asexual!fic popping up in the Sherlock BBC fandom lately, and keep feeling tempted to throw my own version in there. (I have seen a lot of Sherlock Does Not Experience Physical Arousal At All fic, and Sherlock Does Not Wank fic, and, well, there's nothing wrong with those! I like them, and sometimes I'm even a bit envious. But I'd like to see some less physiologically-focussed presentation of asexuality, sometimes? Because I'm asexual myself, but, uh, I do have a "recipe file" on my hard drive, and sometimes I "cook for one"?)

Heehee, I did warn people about the potential in this metaphor to make conversations in future awkward...