“The Other Kitchen Debate” places the history of the microwave oven in the context of Cold War anxieties and gender politics. Discrepancies between Soviet and U.S. safety standards, Soviet deployment of microwave espionage, and the prospect of nuclear war triggered fears about the possible dangers of kitchen appliances powered by low-level radiation. During the 1970s and early 1980s, politicians, government regulators, industry representatives, advertisers, home economists, media, and consumers engaged in lively debates over oven safety and the merits of microwave cookery. By the late eighties and early nineties, as East–West tensions waned and record numbers of American women entered the paid labor force, American media perceived fewer distinctions between the hazards posed by electronic ovens and those presented by their conventional counterparts. New definitions of safety redefined microwave ovens as purely domestic appliances, leaving questions about the potential risks of nonionizing radiation unresolved.

“另一个厨房之争”将微波炉的历史置于冷战焦虑和性别政治的背景下。苏联和美国安全标准之间的差异、苏联微波间谍活动的部署以及核战争的前景引发了人们对低辐射厨房电器可能存在危险的担忧。在 20 世纪 70 年代和 80 年代初，政治家、政府监管机构、行业代表、广告商、家庭经济学家、媒体和消费者就烤箱安全性和微波炉烹饪的优点展开了激烈的争论。到了八十年代末和九十年代初，随着东西方紧张局势的缓和，美国女性进入有酬劳动力的人数创历史新高，美国媒体认为，电子烤箱所带来的危害与传统烤箱所带来的危害之间没有什么区别。新的安全定义将微波炉重新定义为纯粹的家用电器，从而使有关非电离辐射潜在风险的问题仍未得到解决。