Salt Water Cures - Archived 110599

Salt Water Cures

Archived 11/05/99

November 5 On Martha Stewart

I watch Martha Stewart. Not every day. But most. If I can. And it took me a long time to learn that watching Martha Stewart is a controversial thing to do.

I have also learned that I am one of the few people in the world who is ambivalent about Martha Stewart. Most people, no, most women, I've learned, either love or hate her. I, on the other hand, love and hate her.

How do I love her? Let me count the ways! I love her because I learn from her. Because she doesn't wear make-up and wears her own, normal clothes. Because she emphasizes accuracy. Because she doesn't condescend to her viewers. And because she is very good at what she does, both as a "diva of domesticity" and as a businesswoman. Oh, and the most important reason I love her is that she's convincing millions of women that what they do is valuable, takes skill, and warrants using good tools.

I hate her because she is an insomniac, has a huge staff to do what she does, is almost inevitably totally over the top in some manifestation of her perfectionism gone wild, and because she takes herself so very, very seriously. (Of course, if my stock had doubled the very first day I took my name and business public, maybe I'd take myself insufferably seriously too.)

And I am puzzled, too, about the gender-peculiarity of the love/hate thing with Martha. (Yes, it's true. I'm sure I'm on a first-name basis with her!) I've never heard anyone, man or woman, criticize Bob Vila for knowing everything about fixing and building houses, or any other of the "handymen" types who can repair or build anything as setting impossibly high standards for the men of the world. Why the difference, I ask myself? So far, I haven't come up with a convincing answer.

So, I continue to watch Martha. I have never made a "cookie of the week", but I have repeated some of the "quick cook" recipes to rave reviews. I continue to use an old Martha Stewart Living article on Passover seders for many of my recipes. (I know she isn't Jewish, but lots of her friends are, I'd guess!) And while I won't buy the special Millenium Entertaining special issue, I treasure the one on maintaining clothes. And, I'll continue to scream with laughter when she insists on copper-leafing the top of her gingerbread house at Christmas, and groan at the excess of pasting on special buttons to a fabric-covered box that will store whoknowswhat whoknowswhere. No-one said mentors had to be perfect, I figure.