Why a Man's Barbeque Is His Throne

By Alex Jacobs

True love: a man and his barbeque

As barbeque season reaches its annual frenzy, one American truism seems relevant as ever: a man's barbeque is his throne. According to the Hearth, Patio, & Barbecue Association (it's real, we promise), men grill 59% of the time. For most that comes as little surprise, but it leaves us to wonder: why grilling as opposed to, say, baking a blueberry muffin? One thing is clear: when it comes to man and the barbeque, it's about everything but the food. Psychologist Dr. Aric Sigman says that in "civilized," modern society, the barbecue is "one of the few opportunities for man...to recreate the caveside ritual." His study with UK gas distributor Calor, which confirmed man's usual place behind the grill, finds "modern man - the 'barbecue beast' - still flexing his muscles in front of the barbecue in a contemporary pantomime of his former life as a hunter-gatherer." Then again, consumer psychology might not be needed. As one griller told Stockton, CA's The Record last year, "It's just one of those things from the caveman days. Men love the fire." Interestingly, the HPBA found that men light the grill even more often than they cook on it, some 65% of the time. No coincidence, then, that barbeque expert Steve Raichlen calls his new TV show, "Primal Grill." But even as men cling to their lighter fluid, women are working to make the grill their own. Author and TV food expert Elizabeth Karmel, for instance, runs GirlsattheGrill.com, a site for barbecue tips and testimonials that boasts: "Grilling isn't just for boys anymore." What do you think?

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