Thinking through cupcakes

Having just received some new sprinkles -- palm trees -- I felt compelled to make cupcakes for the boys, and once I got started, my creativity was limited only by the amount of cream cheese frosting I had.
I was using a white cake mix, and felt somewhat inferior for not making the cupcakes from scratch, which made me think about the early days of cake mixes. When cake mixes were first brought to market, they required only the addition of water, and that did not go over big with women. The cake mix manufacturers discovered that women felt uncomfortable with such an instant mix. The mixes were adapted to require a couple more steps, the most important one being the addition of eggs -- and women felt better about themselves if they used a mix but cracked eggs into it.
So, I colored and sprinkled and thought about why people love making cupcakes in today's modern world, mix or no mix. I also wondered if Camille Paglia makes cupcakes for her toddler son, and if it's more of a feminist statement to make the cupcakes if you don't really have to, or to buy them at a cupcake shop. Scratch or mix?
I can't picture Susan Sontag eating cupcakes, let alone making them.
All this thinking about women made me wonder about the criticism I'd read during the week about Ina Garten on Nigella's website. I had difficulty grasping why people, mostly women, get so irritated by Ina, and thought about what a friend of mine noted about how women are so quick still to tear someone down with vitriol. So much for advancement and sisterhood -- when it comes right down to it, we can always expect a little catfight.
Ina elicits such strong reactions from those who don't like her. Is it because Ina is upper-middle-class? Is it because she's an accomplished, self-made woman? Oh no -- is it because she's fat? Or is it simply her laugh that people can't forgive, since I've heard people say it's a "fake laugh." Or maybe it's not a fake laugh, and Ina really is happy and people find that irritating. Better to think she's a phoney. But a phoney what? A phoney cook? Her recipes work really well for me time and time again.
Maybe Ina annoys people because she's successful. But what I don't understand, is why so many people who hate Ina adore Nigella. That's puzzling to me, because I see many similarities between the two women. The strong love-hate reactions would make more sense to me if Nigella were the polar opposite of Ina.
They both use fine and fresh ingredients and encourage buying the best products. Neither are about achieving perfection in the kitchen, like Martha.
Nigella is definitely upper, successful, and posh. She's self-made w/connections to boot. She's not fat, but she's not skinny, nor is her cooking style low-fat. She is a bit younger, and she may not have a laugh people find annoying, but she does make sexual noises while cooking, which might even the score on that front. Maybe Nigella is forgiven her gifts and absolved of envy b/c of her life's tragedies. She's successful, but she's known great despair. I wonder...if Ina were to lose her beloved husband, Jeffrey, then people might cast a sympathetic eye to her -- for a short while, at least. Probably until she released another hit cookbook. And what about Nigella's future? What if her waist thickens over the next five years? Will fans turn on her? Certainly not! That would be ridiculous.
Wouldn't it?
Despite their respective achievements in their field, they cannot escape competition between women -- it never ends. Why are we comparing these two women? Maybe it's just human nature to pit people against one another, no matter the heights reached.
Women have come so far -- hey, we got the vote, and can now choose to make cupcakes instead of being told we have to make cupcakes for our men. Cooking can be a profession, or a form of relaxation instead of a drudge-filled assignment. However, we may still have to fight some shallow inclinations before we can claim more truly lofty goals.
Now, let's look at the pretty cupcakes!
Here is the Lilly Pulitzer cupcake:

Here is the Sunny Gummi Bear cupcake:


Here is the Grateful Dead cupcake:


Here is the Camouflage Green Beret cupcake:

This cupcake refuses to be pigeon-holed with a label:

After a provocative session in the kitchen, I can't say I'm any closer to understanding the irony of baking as it relates to feminism, but I know that, ultimately, my men and I were very happy with these cupcakes.