The Big Little Lie of the TV Kitchen Island
1st September 2019
The island in question is not just a work space but is also apparently intended to serve as a quasi-dining area.
I concur with the author that this is an abomination, like having 400 cupholders in a car.
Over the decades, as versions of this housewife’s setup have eliminated dining rooms, pass-throughs, and farmhouse tables, the open-concept kitchen, centered around an island visible from all sides, has become not a labor-saving device but a stage on which (mostly) women are forced to perform. Madeline doesn’t have the biggest house, but she has the biggest island, because she’s the Monterey mom momming the hardest. She says it herself, in her first oversharing conversation with Jane Chapman (Shailene Woodley), the new, young mom in town: It’s us against them, working moms against full-time moms. And yet, the big house, the exuberantly feminine wardrobe, the home-cooked dinner… it’s not quite enough for Madeline.
Kitchen islands are a work area. When not in use they ought to be as clean as a lab bench.
If you want to eat, get a table and put it in a different area.
I believe that kitchen islands had their origin in the work tables that used to fill the huge kitchens of houses that had tons of servants and served formal meals for lots of people. We rarely do that any more.