Nigella Lawson: Feminism Makes Women Feel Guilty and Affects Cooking Skills

Celebrity chef Nigella Lawson has stated that the urge for women to break free from traditional roles has ultimately made them feel guilty about being in the kitchen and had a negative effect on their cooking skills.

"Women of my generation were keen - rightly - not to be tied to the stove, but the ramifications of this were that they felt a sense of dread in the kitchen," 53-year-old Lawson told the Observer Food Monthly magazine.

"How can this be good for anyone? I also feel that to denigrate any activity because it has traditionally been associated with the female sphere is in itself anti-feminist," she added.

She also stated that many people mistakenly believed that her bestselling book, How to be a Domestic Goddess had suggested that a woman's place was in the kitchen.

Lawson's 10-year marriage to art tycoon Charles Saatchi recently ended in just 70 seconds at the High Court.

Lawson, 53 and Saatchi, 70 were granted a decree nisi (a statement saying the court sees no reason why a divorce cannot be granted) on the grounds that the marriage had irretrievably broken down. Neither the couple nor their legal representatives attended the hearing.

Saatchi filed for divorce after she failed to defend him in public, following the publication of pictures which appeared to show him grabbing her by the throat outside a London restaurant.

"I am sorry to announce that Nigella Lawson and I are getting divorced. This is heartbreaking for both of us as our love was very deep, but in the last year, we have become estranged and drifted apart," Saatchi told the Mail.

"I feel that I have clearly been a disappointment to Nigella during the last year or so, and I am disappointed that she was advised to make no public comment to explain that I abhor violence of any kind against women, and have never abused her physically in any way."

Saatchi was widely criticised over the alleged choking incident. Shortly after the pictures were published, Lawson was pictured with her son Bruno leaving her marital home with a suitcase.

According to Lawson's close friends, the 17-year age gap between Lawson and Saatchi had begun to damage the relationship.

"Saatchi used to be the king, regarded as the man who made Brit Art. Now he comes across as a grumpy old man. The 17-year age difference is ­becoming a problem. When they first married it didn't seem so great. Now it is like an abyss," said one source close to Lawson.