"Bitchin' Kitchen?" Not Quite.

As much as I think I'm obsessed with food, I don't spend too much time watching the Food Network. I get my food TV kicks from the "Top Chef" series and Andrew Zimmern's "Bizarre Foods." So, it was through Zimmern's blog that I discovered Nadia G. from the Cooking Channel's "Bitchin' Kitchen." After browsing through her website, my internal feminist started a temper tantrum.
I get that anyone who wants to market themselves in a consumer culture already saturated with commercialism must find some kind of gimmick to distinguish themselves from the other equally desperate celeb-wannabies. Rachel Ray works for harried, guilt-ridden working mothers who don't have time to do dry their hair, much less cook. Paula Deen's cloying persona and heavily-mascara'd eyes work for those with a grandma fixation. Anthony Bourdain is supposed to be that modern day Byronic hero, the object of lust for many masochistic women. Granted, I'm painting a very crude picture for how these chefs are perceived, but that's the whole point: to market yourself, you need to give the public only one dimension of yourself and run with it til they get tired of it.
I wasn't surprised that Nadia G. presents herself as the "Rockstar" of the kitchen. Starting with web episodes, she secured a contract with the Cooking Channel, making her the first female to go "from Net to Network, and the rest is herstory."That's great - I love that. Successful autodidacts are amazing. Won't take that away from her. What's troubling for me is the gimmick she's chosen: the no-holds-barred empowered feminist-cook who shamefacedly uses her sexuality to sell herself. On TV, of course.

Surrounded by her legion of emasculated he-groupies.

I can't swallow this brand of feminism. And her shows don't make sense: how are we bitchin' women, when one of the first shows is all about finding a man? And one of the necessities in the kitchen is a pair of killer stilettos? I'd say a good pair of tongs would be more useful in flipping rib eyes than my Manolos. This is the kind of absurdity that has me tearing my hair out whenever I turn on the television. 

I'm sure Nadia G. is a good cook. It's unfortunate that her culinary skills will be the second thing her viewers notice.