'D'aaw. Look at how noble and beautiful and practical poor people are! Not like us rich white Americans who throw everything away and don't appreciate anything we have.'

No matter the intentions of the photographer, I always feel like these are the sentiments pictures like these convey to the majority of American viewers. I find it voyeuristic and pandering to the viewer's desire to place the values of the poor on a pedestal while affirming their own belief that their shallow, materialistic life is tragic in its own way, despite the comforts it brings. It's insulting and alienating.

I've seen this error a few times on this site's articles:  it's "offers a PEEK" not "offers a PEAK".

I see virtually no difference between those kitchens and my kitchen in college, other then I didn't have as many appliances.

I agree Aeon Blue! If I read one more account pertaining to the shining and happy the eyes of an African mother or child, I am going to scream! It also bugs me because it ties moral worth into the equation. If these people were wasteful or unhappy or ugly, would that make their suffering justified?

Luckily they have a benevolent and kind communist party to buoy them along though these last 50 years of cruel embargo.  /sarcasm

I would say that the gross repressive kleptocracracy that is running Cuba has as much to do with the poor quality of life there as does the embargo.  Just like in North Korea, the ruling class lives in splendor while everyone else lives in squalor. If the embargo ended tomorrow I doubt the PEOPLE of Cuba would see much benefit from it.

I agree that the pictures are pretty, but I presume the people who have to use the spaces think they're crap.

They couldnt trade with other countries? Either way, sucks to be Cuba, for more than crappy kitchens.

These kitchens are very much like the ones my husband's family members have in Costa Rica. I have eaten very good meals out of kitchens like these. Many of the women I call relatives now choose not to replace older appliances because the new ones in the stores -- usually items like the ones available in the US, or indeed second hand items from the US -- do not function the same way the old ones do and the ladies aren't interested in learning the new machines. Then too, the food that is consumed in Costa Rica now is not much different from the food that was consumed years ago when the kitchens were newer. They have no interest in newer appliances because they do not seem to be built to cook the same food. I do not think, however, that same factor applies in Cuba because the diet there changed after their involvement with the Soviet Union as suppliers of canned goods.

I think what I am saying is that there are enough people in Latin America who do not seem to think that new appliances will serve them any better than the ones they already have. It's not just Cuba.

I thin

I think another unintended consequence of this story is that it shows the relative privilege of NPR's intended audience. There are plenty of kitchens right here in the U-S-of-A that look similar to these. Even as a fairly privileged and educated (but underpaid) person, I myself have dealt with refrigerators and stoves at least 50 years old. And mismatched equipment is an ongoing reality.

Despite the obvious intended purpose of the photoset, I have to wonder: are these kitchens usable? They -look- pretty damn usable. They look roughly akin to what I grew up with in D.C. in the 80s and 90s. This would probably have a pretty striking effect if the viewer was used to stainless steel appliances and granite countertops, but I think large portions of the 'developed world' would feel perfectly comfortable cooking here, aside from the peeling paint and outages.

There are a multitude of striking -and- meaningful ways to visually describe Cuban poverty, but this really isn't one of them.

Lisa Wade means Cuban kitchens after 60
years of Cuban totalitarian dictatorship. I think it must be de rigueur for universities to hire condescending lefties to the exclusion of the more qualified