Tsk: Globe fails to mention Michael Flaherty's role in jumpstarting an entire generation of Boston feminists

Proto-feminist crusader.

Somehow, in the crush of events, we missed the return of the Globe trend story based on no particular trend, in this case, a Wednesday opus on how expensive mixers are now a feminist hallmark. In case you, too, missed it, the Globe alerts us to "the strange allure of the stand mixer:"

These women are teachers, lawyers, bankers — modern women with robust lives outside the home, and yet this symbol of homemakers, this tool for home chefs continues to draw them in. While some may be novice bakers or kitchen hobbyists, many would rather leave the cooking up to someone else. Nevertheless, they’re dazzled by this symbol of culinary proficiency. And in their signature color, of course.

But what is it about a hard-working countertop mixer that has some women so transfixed? Is this "keeping up with the Joneses" or is it feminist commentary at its finest?

As Lissa Harris, who keeps track of such things, notes, the Globe then proceeds to not answer the question as the writer trips over herself in orgiastic glee over the delights of $350 appliances and the sheer joy of adding one to your bridal registry.

But, honestly, has it come to this? Our paper of record fails to note the moment so many of us first became aware of these hard-working countertop mixers that actually rarely get used: That day in January, 2009, when City Councilor Michael Flaherty announced he was running for mayor, with the help of a KitchenAid Mixer. Surely that, more than anything else, kickstarted an entire generation of Boston women into their unquenchable yearning for a mixer in their signature color.