Comments on: Of Cooking & Gender

By: Evangeline

Evangeline — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 02:58:31 +0000

That’s a great article, Vic! Thanks!

By: Vic

Vic — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 20:51:51 +0000

I agree that the absence of female chefs is remarkable, given that in that so many other professions we have gained ground. Have you read this interesting article in NY Magazine on the topic? http://nymag.com/restaurants/features/39595/

The female chefs illuminate the topic nicely. Vic

By: heidenkind

heidenkind — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 00:53:09 +0000

Great post! There is absolutely a sexual dichotomy in the kitchen, and I can’t help but wonder why that is. If you watch the cooking shows, almost all of the male celebrichefs talk about how their mothers were the ones who nurtured their love of cooking. Yet how many women are in their kitchen?

By: Evangeline

Evangeline — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 04:27:13 +0000

Hey Katie, you aren’t alone in finding this to be a pet peeve. I can point to secretarial work and to telephone operators as positions formerly held by men and quickly “feminized” in the late 19th century. Whenever a woman in film/TV has a male secretary, he is either gay or the butt of the joke (hehe, a woman in charge!!). It is also interesting to note that when gender roles are reversed (like the aforementioned male secretary–though, I do notice that my placing “male” before the word “secretary” shows how unconsciously we place professions in certain genders) when the plot takes a romantic turn, the male remains in a position of power, and he serves to give the woman her comeuppance for daring to be in charge.

By: Katie Mack

Katie Mack — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 21:17:37 +0000

Very interesting subject, and I’m going to rant a little now because this subject is one of my personal hot buttons.

The whole men are chefs but women are merely cooks thing has always struck me as blatantly sexist. Unfortunately, it’s not uncommon for men who work in a “feminine” field to either be granted higher social status (i.e. chefs), or to be mocked for performing “women’s work” (i.e. nursing) based purely on their gender rather than their actual performance. And it bugs the hell out of me.

I like the point you make about men’s/women’s behavior in the kitchen. Society views it as perfectly acceptable for men to be aggressive and ruthless, but aggressive women are labeled “bitches.” As far as we’ve come, it’s still not socially acceptable for women to raise their voices, give orders, or be assertive. Which puts women at a distinct advantage in occupations where these behaviors are required to be successful.

I think it’s interesting to look at the history of many occupations with respect to gender, as you’ve done with cooking here, and see how they’ve changed. For example, working as a bank teller used to be a very prestigious, well-paid, and predominately male job. Once women started acquiring this position in larger numbers, both pay and prestige lowered considerably, and men either left the banking field entirely or moved up to fill almost all of the high-level positions.