It’s easy to forget that Martha Stewart comes from the same place as leopard print divas Michelle Visage, Jwoww and Snooki. A Jersey Girl who made good, Martha has reshaped the way we cook, entertain and think about vintage cake stands.
Ageism erases so many women when they hit middle age, but Martha, who’ll be 80 next month, only grows more popular. And she’s not perceived as a grandmother, she’s transcended that. As evidenced by her famous poolside selfie, taken at the tender age of 78.
New Yorker illustration by Lauren Tamaki
When Joan Didion wrote about her for the New Yorker she explained how Martha was so much more than chocolate chip cookies, shabby chic decor and milk glass vases.
This is not a story about a woman who made the best of traditional skills. This is a story about a woman who did her own I.P.O. This is the “woman’s pluck” story, the dust-bowl story, the burying-your-child-on-the-trail story, the I-will-never-go-hungry-again story, the Mildred Pierce story, the story about how the sheer nerve of even professionally unskilled women can prevail, show the men; the story that has historically encouraged women in this country, even as it has threatened men. The dreams and the fears into which Martha Stewart taps are not of “feminine” domesticity but of female power, of the woman who sits down at the table with the men and, still in her apron, walks away with the chips.
A recent episode of the insanely popular podcast You’re Wrong About delves into Martha’s story in much the same way – looking at the sexism at the root of her indictment for securities fraud in 2003. The episode reminds all of us that Martha has always been more than a homemaker, and she changed the way we live, well beyond the kitchen.
To celebrate her upcoming birthday, here’s a delicious menu of our favourite Martha recipes for a perfect summer feast:
