This week I read with sadness that Tupperware is bankrupt. It seems to me that this bankruptcy reflects more than just the decline of a company: it is the symbol of a way of life that is today denigrated, but that deserves historical recognition. It was a society where a large percentage of mothers did not work outside the home, they worked intensely within the home, covering gaps and social needs that today, in their absence, must be covered by the State.
These valuable women cared for later generations —children, grandchildren—, and previous generations —fathers, uncles, grandparents—. They were the ones who kept a Tupperware, at the back of the cupboard, some special cookies for visitors. They bought the first silicone molds for Sunday cake and knew which plastics were suitable for the freezer or the microwave. Women who lost their favorite Tupperware containers, those they had chosen with so much love, because many times they did not return home when their children took, on Sunday, the remains of the meat stew or the lentils to their new lives, to university or their own homes. It was not only the food that they sent in these containers but also a piece of home, a hug in the form of lentils or stew.
These women, when they met at Tupperware meetings, shared their recipes, the uses of the new revolutionary plastics, and, in addition, the solitude of the kitchen, a solitude rarely acknowledged. These meetings were filled with rain, ideas and motivation. And, they not only exchanged recipes, but also ideas for the most important job they had at hand: taking care of the family. I know this was true because I have been there, attended these meetings, and even held them in my home.
The Tupperware bankruptcy coincides with a week in which I heard, several times, the word “kept woman” used in a nauseating way to refer to these women, these mothers who gave everything. To those who use this term, I want to remind them how much it costs to bring a child into the world. If you search on Google, the price of surrogacy will vary between 50,000 and 200,000 euros, depending on the country.
How much does a housekeeper who works eight hours a day cost? She earns about 900 euros a month, as long as her workday does not exceed 20 hours a week. If you have to put an elderly person in a nursing home, the prices vary between 1,500 and 2,045 euros a month.
Think of those women in your life, those who attended Tupperware parties, and dare to call them “kept women.” They were the ones who kept the country, who sustained a society that lived as a family.
Thank you for those years shared, Tupperware, and thank you to all those women, wrongly called “kept women.”
