WHO’S COOKIN’? : GENDER ISSUES IN THE PROFESSIONAL KITCHEN
Imanuella R. Andilolo Department of Management University of Mataram Mataram, Indonesia [email protected]
Ikma Citra Ranteallo Department of Sociology Udayana University Denpasar, Indonesia [email protected] ABSTRACT
Historically a woman’s place was considered to be in the kitchen. The feminist movement in 1970s opened up opportunities for women to join the work force.
However, after decades, women still have difficulty entering the professional kitchen where men continue to dominate. “If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen”;
is a saying that best describe a professional kitchen. Another old adage: “Women cook with the heart, men cook with the head—because women have hearts and men have brains”; is very pronounced in the culinary industry to date. This seemingly strong need for a clear distinction between how men and women cook is indicative of gender bias in the professional kitchen. This paper looks at gender issues as the contributing factor for this gap. The concept of glass ceiling as unseen barriers for women to move into higher position clearly exists in the culinary industry, especially in the professional kitchen. This paper examines the issues on managerial and social barriers based on gender bias/inequality in professional kitchens; it looks at how female chefs socially manoeuvre within the kitchen culture; and attempts to compile solutions.
Keywords: chef, gender issues, glass ceiling, professional kitchen.
INTRODUCTION
Historically a woman’s place was considered to be in the kitchen. In some cultures, in fact only women are allowed in the kitchen. For example, in Uganda, men and boys aged 12 and above are not allowed to sit in the kitchen (Countries and Their Cultures,n.d.). To date there has been significant improvement in women being emancipated from their kitchen duty. The feminist movement of the 1970s helped to inspire a generation of women to pursue professional aspiration outside the household despite societal believe at the time that a woman’s place was in the kitchen (Smith, 2009).
Times are changing. Males are entering and preparing food in the domestic kitchen as well. This new setting creates a change in gender relation and to certain extent put notable influence on masculinities on men who have significant cooking responsibilities in their homes (Szabo, 2013). Studies also show that men may compensate for their involvement in the traditionally feminine domestic kitchen by doing “masculine” things in the kitchen such as swearing (Deutsch, 2005) thereby distancing it from “feminine” cooking, i.e. mundane care work done for loved ones (Szabo, 2014).
“If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen”; is a saying that best describe a professional kitchen. This saying was corroborated by a Michelin-starred chef Tom Kerridge that said to be in a professional kitchen one must have testosterone that contribute to the dynamic of getting things done, the ability to dig deep and be put under pressure; which is why there is a lack of female chefs in the culinary industry according to Tom (Warhurst, 2014). “As is visible within the culinary world, even when a traditionally understood “women’s activity” is professionalized, it is difficult for women to reach top positions that their male colleagues tend to hold more often” (Roscoe, 2012).
Deborah Harris, the author of Taking The Heat, in Garsd (2015) says, male chefs made a big deal about "differentiating between the cultural, high-status, intellectual cooking of men, and the low-status, every day work of women." This seemingly strong need for a clear distinction between how men and women cook is indicative of gender bias in the professional kitchen. Again, this only serves as a reminder of an old adage: “Women cook with the heart, men cook with the head—
because women have hearts and men have brains”. This is a stereotype that in most
industries would not be tolerated anymore, however it is still very pronounced in the culinary industry.
Invisible barriers to access high status positions in management are known as glass ceiling. This terminology was first coined by Hymowitz and Schellhardt in a Wall Street Journal report in 1986 and has been use extensively for research on gender inequality in the corporate world (Lockwood, 2004). There is however, very limited research exploring glass ceiling in the culinary industry. This is by no means an indication that a glass ceiling is not present in the culinary industry. This paper examines the issues on managerial and social barriers based on gender bias/inequality in professional kitchens; it also looks at how female chefs socially manoeuvre within the kitchen culture; and attempts to compile solutions.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Women in managerial position and their access to it has been the topic of empirical research (Konrad and Cunnings, 1997; Lamsa and Sintonen, 2001;
Kirchmeyer, 2002; Dencker, 2008). However, the role of managers in reproducing gender inequality is understudied, although it is relevant to persistent labour market inequality (Hultin and Szulkin, 2003). Ironically, Nelson and Bridges (1999) argue that the lack of women in positions of authority sustains workplace gender inequality.
Glass ceiling is among the most referenced topic when discussing barriers to access for women. However this term is no longer seen only to describe the barriers for women but also for minorities (Wilson, 2014; Eyring et al., 1998). Glass ceiling was a term first mentioned by Hymowitz and Schellhardt in a Wall Street Journal report in 1986 to describe the barriers that women who attempted and aspired to senior management positions faced (Lockwood, 2004). Eyring et al. (1998) presented a list of barriers to shattering the glass ceiling in the corporate world.
Harris (2010) conducted a study on how female chefs manage barriers relating to their balance of work and family responsibilities.
Culinary industry has seen growth in the promotion of pleasure in food via cook books, specialty food and wine magazines and television cooking shows (Banwell et al, 2010). In response, gender issues in the industry have also come to light. While there is a large number of financially successful female celebrity chefs and there are male chefs like Jamie Oliver who focus on domestic cookery, the finding of a recent study conducted by Johnston et al. (2014) shows that gender
division is still the center of culinary personas, “more specifically, the masculine and feminine traits associated with domestic foodwork (and carework) and professional cooking”.
Male compensation in the kitchen as mentioned by Deutsch (2005) was corroborated in the context of advertising work by Alvesson (1998). Here Alvesson mentioned that tendencies toward the “femininization” of the work and client relationships in advertising industry put some strain on (gender) identity for men, which are compensated through restructuring of gender relations and interaction at the workplace. Furthermore, Alvesson suggests that there is a need for graded studies of the processes that create gender based on social constructivist ideas.
Alvesson also reminds us that the study of workplaces at a certain depth inherits complexity and variation, i.e. closeness to the processes and cultural manifestations which create gender and gender relations. Variation in terms of organizations, including level and function, occupation, and industry are also seen as important to study (Billing & Alvesson, 1994). The study of gendered processes should include advantages and disadvantages, exploitation and control, action and emotion, meaning and identity in terms of a distinction between male and female, masculine and feminine (Acker, 1992).
Another study done by Ely (1995) conducted in law firms found that related to requirements of success, females in male-dominated (few women in senior positions) firms rated themselves less favourably than in a sex-integrated (more senior women) firm. Gender division of labour creates status differences that affect the identity and self-esteem of women. The degree of mixed-sex interaction in the workplace is viewed as a factor that produces differences in gender workplace inequalities (Mueller at al., 2002). Nillson (2013) went deeper with her research on how masculinity and hierarchy are exercised through violence in organizations;
calling Gordon Ramsay’s agressive management style in a popular US reality television series Hell’s Kitchen as violent, albeit valid in the real restaurant context.
Nillson points out that gender-oriented organizational studies stress the importance of paying attention to acts of violence in organizations rather than disregarding it as organizational culture or tradition.
Work identity emphasized on sexuality has been and perhaps is still less central for women than men as a consequence of ideological power defining men and women inequally (Leidner, 1991). This might explain why some women are less
motivated to cope with the strain; why they may also receive less or more mixed support.
David M. Kaplan (2011), philosopher of food, sheds light on gender and gender issues as our starting point to gender relations:
“Gender is a particularly good example [of the way that food is a marker of identity and prescribes social roles]. Men and woman act out their identities, roles, and relationships through their very different relationships with food: different division of labour, access, and meaning attributed to eating. By mapping gender onto each stage of food production, distribution, and consumption we have a powerful lens through which to explain gender relations”.
According to Ridgeway (1995), we need to apply micro level theories of social psychological processes where gender inequality exists for us to understand how it is created and perpetuated. But Fitzgerald in Comer et al. (1998) encourages us to combat the widespread of sexual harassment through education and that it should start in our management classrooms. It is pertinent that we present it in a nonthreatening manner that captures attention and communicates key points as issues on gender relations are potentially emotional and can even provoke defensiveness (Comer et al., 1998).
DISCUSSION
A. True Male Domination
Women face many obstacles when entering a male dominated workplace.
Based on statistics from the U.S. Labor Department, only about 20 percent of chefs are women (Garsd, 2015). Despite the fact that women make up the vast majority of home cooks, and despite four-plus decades of modern feminism, women still run just a small percentage of professional kitchens (New York Magazine, Oct 29, 2007). In the United Kingdom, there are a total of 167 Michelin-starred restaurants. Out of this number, only 10 are spear-headed by female head chefs.
An investigation was conducted in Lombok – Indonesia, to look if male domination in the professional kitchen also holds true. It aims to see how many of Head Chefs or Executive Chefs that run hotel restaurants are male or female. The hotels selected were hotels with high star ratings because there are more than one restaurants or restaurant services conducted in the hotel simultaneously and it is expected to be of high level of service. Furthermore, most upscale restaurants are in these hotels. Only Santika Hotel has the lowest rating of 3 stars but it is included in
the sample as it is part of a famous hotel chain in Indonesia. Notably the pool number is low given that Lombok is a tourist destination. However, the result is staggering nonetheless as can be seen in Table I below.
Table I. Gender of Head Chefs in 3 – 5 Star Hotels in Lombok - Indonesia
NO. HOTEL STAR GENDER OF HEAD CHEF
1 Sheraton Senggigi 5 Male
2 Novotel Kuta Lombok 4 Male
3 Lombok Raya 4 Male
4 Golden Palace 4 Male
5 Kila Senggigi 4 Male
6 Santosa 4 Male
7 Svarga Resort Senggigi 4 Male 8 Holiday Resort Senggigi 4 Male
9 Lombok Plaza 4 Male
10 Santika 3 Male
Source: Primary Data Collection; October 2015
B. Gender Issues and Management Implication
Who is cooking? A research experiment was conducted in New York to ask the question: Do women working in restaurant kitchens have discernibly different cooking styles than their male counterparts? (Levine, 2009). A panel of judges were to distinguish meals prepared by a female chef and which by a male chef solely based on how they looked and tasted. The experiment proved that it was impossible to tell based on how the meal was presented. No surprise. What was more interesting, however, was why did the panellists assume that certain flourishes or flavours were feminine? The main conclusion derived from this research experiment was men and women don’t cook differently, but people judge their food differently. When the gender of the chef is known, the adjectives used in expressing the same dish prepared by a male and a female chef are clearly different. A male chef’s dish would be described as “in-your-face, rich, intense, bold flavours – a declaration of ego”; while a woman’s dish would be identified as “homey, comforting fare, prepared with love – a testament to home cooking” (Druckman, 2010).
Druckman points out that we indeed have come a long way from the notion that a woman’s place is in the domestic kitchen, and that the only kitchen appropriate for a man is the professional one. But in practice, things can be pared down to the following equation: woman : man as cook : chef (Druckman, 2010). Druckman asks whether we have contributed in perpetuating this semantic nuance. Editors in-chief of Food and Wine andGourmet magazines, both females, shared the opinion that to give women special attention is to corroborate that an actual difference exists between a man and a woman [in the professional kitchen]. This notion confirmed a collective sentiment from seven female head chefs of New York City. For these chefs, acknowledging the existence of sexism would in part portray them as victims or be labelled whiny. Even worst, believing that sexism exists might just stop them in their tracks (New York Magazine, 2007). The question remains: Is denying the elephant in the room the best policy? More importantly, what are the implications for management of the professional kitchen?
Abuse, bullying, harassment, aggression, violence are words used by an anonymous chef to describe his experience in a professional kitchen. The article by Burrow et al. (2015) gives a portrait into what goes on in most professional kitchen.
The abusive language lashed out by Gordon Ramsay in his US television series Hell’s Kitchen is bad enough for most, but the anonymous chef’s recount in “Yes Chef”: Life at the vanguard of culinary excellence”, is a must read and mind blowing article. Management of a professional kitchen should and must implement a code of behaviour in the work place. This set of code of behaviour must create a safe and effective work environment for both men and women.
The glass ceiling terminology may now seem out of place when talking about the culinary industry. It seems out of place for reasons that glass ceiling refers to barriers that are invisible or unseen, however, emotional and physical abuse are very clearly present. “In-your-face” in fact. A young girl just starting her career in a professional kitchen recounts her first day when the chef took her into the kitchen and another young cook, male, said to the chef: “Chef, you know it’s my birthday and you brought me a present”. A former Pastry Chef, Kate Burnham, filed a human rights complaint against three senior chefs where she previously worked in Toronto, Canada, citing that she was verbally harassed and routinely had her breasts and crotch touched at work, among other indignities (Bielski, 2015). An account by a female chef, O’Leary, that “the macho rock star chef serving a steaming heap of
bravado seems to be finally becoming a relic of the past: It just doesn't make for good cooking. It's so outdated, it literally doesn't work. We've learnt you simply can't keep cooks that way" (Garsd, 2015). Management must take heed of what goes on in the kitchen as any court case will tarnish the image of the whole restaurant or establishment.
Working for very long hours 16-20 hours a day is difficult enough for both men and women. Add the cherry on the top, working long hours in a degrading and dehumanising environment with a low pay. This is clearly not to most people’s taste and preference. Long working hours that are expected from working in a professional kitchen create conflict between work and family responsibilities and women are more affected than men. This is the caused for many females to leave the professional kitchen. Female chefs or females that have worked as a chef were respondents in a study conducted by Harris (2010) on how they negotiate work-family conflict. There were three strategies in-play: (1) delaying/forgoing childbearing to succeed as a chef; (2) leaving kitchen work for another job in the culinary field; and (3) adapting either work or family to make the two roles more compatible. Managing work-family responsibilities must be taken into consideration in working out the appropriate working hours. O’Leary in Garsd (2015) claims that “cheffing is hard physical work, and many women move into managerial roles. We women excel at organising kitchens, but the only way you can do that is by moving up through the ranks of hard knocks. To be able to keep the whole brigade under you together, you have to have done it all. That's the only way to earn the respect of the guys."
Chef as an occupation is very fitting to the study of gender and work as it highlights the problem of gender inequality in the workplace while simultaneously breaking down the argument that somehow “women’s work” is natural to a female.
“The question of what prevents or blockades women from entering and maintaining positions as chefs remains at the structural, organizational, and cultural levels”
(Roscoe, 2012). A management system with gender perspective should be implemented to change the current structural and organizational that prevents women to advance in a professional kitchen. At a cultural level in Mexico there is a clear boundary that men, even male chefs, do not make tortillas as they claim
“...that's a woman's labour" (Christie, 2008). And as what Chef Iliana De La Vega’s mother’s commented on her daugther’s decision to become a chef: “No, we always [cook] anyways. So why don't you go and do something else?".
C. Solution
“The buck stops here”. We might not always have a choice in how we are taught, but we do have the choice on how we teach others. Education is indeed essential especially when presented in a nonthreatening manner. “Cooking schools have a greater responsibility to their students now because there are so many passing through their doors. They are so young and they are going into an adult environment right away”, therefore, they must be equipped with manual on human integration (Bielski, 2015). Clear line of conduct needs to be established; between what are acceptable and what are not acceptable. Healthy ways of communication must be put in place. Through positive communication, monitoring and mentoring, respect can be earned in the kitchen.
Culinary industry needs to be regulated. Better policies should be in place.
Management of professional kitchens must also acknowledge and strive to create a better working environment for women, such as better working hours; maternity leave; standard of behaviour or code of conduct in the work environment. Most importantly, to stop gratification of negative kitchen culture through television shows.
CONCLUSION
Women had been goddesses of the kitchen, who manage all foods to eat.
However, the professional kitchen culture has adapted a patriarchal system, where men became new gods within the kitchen and hardly the place for women.
Furthermore, television cooking shows have reinvented female and male chefs to become the new idols and celebrity figures: good looking; got more reviews, good rating, and followers by social media users; and promoted and endorsed more hotels or restaurants. These challenges need more attentions by cooking schools to create healthier and safer culture in the professional kitchen that advances both men and women. Management of professional kitchens must also acknowledge and strive to create a better working environment for women, such as better working hours;
maternity leave; standard of behaviour or code of conduct in the work environment.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The authors thank the conference committee on Gender Equality and Ecological Justice (GE2J) at Satya Wacana Christian University for arranging the conference, and reviewers for their feedbacks to improve this paper.
REFERENCES
Acker, J. 1992, “Gendering Organizational Theory”, in Mills, A. and Tancred, P.
(Eds.), Gendering Organizational Analysis. London: Sage.
Alvesson, M. 1998, "Gender relations and identity at work: A case study of
masculinities and femininities in an advertising agency", Human Relations, vol.
51, no. 8, pp. 969-1005.
Banwell, C., Dixon, J., Broom, D. & Davies, A. 2010, "Habits of a lifetime: Family dining patterns over the life course of older Australians", Health Sociology Review, vol. 19, no. 3, pp. 343-355.
Bielski, Z. 2015, “Female chefs take a stand against sexist kitchen culture”, The Globe and Mail 1 September.Available from <http://www.theglobeandmail.com>.
[1 October 2015].
Billing, Y. D., & Alvesson, M. 1994, “Gender Managers and Organizations”, Berlin/New York: De Gruyter.
Burrow, R. et al. 2015, ‘Yes Chef’: Life at the Vanguard of Culinary Excellence”, Work, employment and society, vol. 29, no. 4, pp. 673-681.
Calas, M. B, & Smircich, L. 1992, “Re-Writing Gender into Organizational Theorizing:
Directions From Feminist Perspectives”, in M. Reed and M. Hughes (Eds.), Re- Thinking Organization: New Directions In Organizational Theory and Analysis, London: Sage.
Calas, M., & Smircich, L. 1996, "Woman's Point Of View. Feminist Approaches To Organization Studies, in S. Clegg, C. Hardy, and W Nord (Eds.), Handbook of Organization Studies, London: Sage.
Christie, M. E. 2008, “Kitchenspace: Women, Fiestas, and Everyday Life in Central Mexico”. Austin: University of Texas Press.
Cohen, P.N. & Huffman, M.L. 2007, "Working for the Woman? Female Managers and the Gender Wage Gap", American Sociological Review, vol. 72, no. 5, pp.
681-704.
Comer, D. R. et al. 1998, “Gender relations and sexual harassment in the workplace:
Michael Crichton's Disclosure as a teaching tool”, Journal of Management Education , vol. 22, no. 2, pp. 227-241.
Countries and Their Culture, n.d., Uganda. Available from:
<http://www.everyculture.com/To-Z/Uganda.html>. [2 October 2015].
Dencker, J.C. 2008, "Corporate Restructuring and Sex Differences in Managerial Promotion", American Sociological Review, vol. 73, no. 3, pp. 455-476.
Deutsch, J. 2005, “Please pass the chicken tits: Rethinking men and cooking at an urban firehouse”, Journal of Food and Foodways, vol. 13, no. 1, pp. 91–114.
Devine, C. 2014, “The End of Macho Kitchen Culture?”. Available from:
<http://www.heraldscotland.com/arts_ents/13160959>. [2 October 2015].
Druckman, C. 2010, "Why Are There No Great Women Chefs?",Gastronomica, vol.
10, no. 1, pp. 24-31.
Ely, R. 1995, “The power in demography: Women's social constructions of gender identity at work”, Academy of Management Journal, vol. 38, no. 3589-634.
Eyring, A. & Stead, B.A. 1998, "Shattering the glass ceiling: Some successful corporate practices", Journal of Business Ethics, vol. 17, no. 3, pp. 245-251.
Ferguson, K. 1984, “The Feminist Case Against Bureaucracy”, Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
Fitzgerald, L. E. 1993, “Sexual harassment: Violence against women in the workplace”, American Psychologist, vol. 48, no. 10, pp. 1070-1076.
Garsd, J. 2015, Taking The Heat: Is Foodie Culture Making Room For Female Chefs?. Available from: <http://www.npr.org/>. [2 October 2015].
Gherardi, S. 1995, “Gender, Symbolism and Organizational Cultures”, London:
Sage.
Giddens, A. 1991, “Modernity and Self-Identity”, Cambridge: Polity Press.
Harris, D. A., Giuffre, P. 2010, ‘‘The Price You Pay: How Female Professional Chefs Negotiate Work and Family”, Gender Issues, vol. 27, pp. 27–52.
Hearn, J., & Parkin, W. 1983, Gender and Organizations: A Selective Review and a Critique of a Neglected Area”, Organization Studies, vol. 4, pp. 219-242.
Hultin, M. & Szulkin, R. 2003, "Mechanisms of Inequality: Unequal Access to Organizational Power and the Gender Wage Gap." European Sociological Review, vol. 19, pp. 143-59.
Johnston J., Rodney, A., & Chong, P. 2014, “Making change in the kitchen? A study of celebrity cookbooks, culinary personas, and inequality”, Poetics, vol. 47, pp. 1–
22
Kanter, R. M. 1977, “Men and Women of The Corporation”, New York: Basic Books.
Kaplan, D. M. (Ed.) 2011, “The philosophy of food”, Berkeley: University of California Press, in Mallory, C. 2013, “Locating Ecofeminism in Encounters with Food and Place”, Journal Agriculture Environment Ethics, vol. 26, pp. 171–189.
Kirchmeyer, C. 2002, "Gender differences in managerial careers: Yesterday, today, and tomorrow", Journal of Business Ethics, vol. 37, no. 1, pp. 5-24.
Konrad, A.M. & Cannings, K. 1997, "The effects of gender role congruence and statistical discrimination on managerial advancement", Human Relations, vol. 50, no. 10, pp. 1305-1328.
Lamsa, A. & Sintonen, T. 2001, "A discursive approach to understanding women leaders in working life", Journal of Business Ethics, vol. 34, no. 3, pp. 255-267.
Leidner, R. 1991, “Selling Hamburgers, Selling Insurance: Gender, work and identity”, Gender and Society, vol. 5, pp. 154-77.
Levine, E. 2009. Available from: <http://www.seriouseats.com/2009/06/do-men-cook- differently-than-women-gender-in-the-kitchen-grant-achatz-dana-cowin.html>. [1 October 2015].
Marshall J. 1984, “Women Managers. Travellers in a Male World”, Chichester: Wiley.
Mills, A., & Tancred, P. (Eds.) 1992, “Gendering Organizational Analysis”, London:
Sage.
Mueller, C. W., Mulinge, M., & Glass, J. 2002, “Interactional processes and gender workplace inequalities”, Social Psychology Quarterly, vol. 65, no. 2, pp 163-185.
Nelson, R. L. & Bridges, W. P. 1999, “Legalizing Gender Inequality: Courts, Markets, and Unequal Pay for Women in America”, New York: Cambridge University Press.
New York Restaurants 2007, A Woman’s Place?. Available from:
<http://nymag.com/restaurants/features/39595/>. [1 October 2015]
Nilsson, G. 2013, “BallsEnough:ManlinessandLegitimated ViolenceinHell’sKitchen”,Gender,WorkandOrganization, vol.20, no.6. Available from: <http://www.readcube.com/articles/>. [29 September 2015].
Roscoe, E. 2012, Stirring the Pot: Women in a Male Dominated Kitchen. Available from: <http://mcgillverstehen2012.weebly.com/stirring-the-pot-women-in-a-male- dominated-kitchen.html>. [1 October 2015].
Smith, C. N. 2009, “Les Dames d‟Escoffier International-A History”, Les Dames d‟Escoffier International (LDEI).
Szabo, M. K. 2013, “Men Nurturing Through Food: challenging gender dichotomies around domestic cooking”, Journal of Gender Studies, vol. 23, no. 1.
Szabo, M. K. 2014, “I'm a real catch”: The blurring of alternative and hegemonic masculinities in men's talk about home cooking”, Women’s Studies International Forum 44, pp 228 – 235.
Warhurst, M. 2014, “Women Chefs Can Handle the Heat in the Kitchen But Have No Appetite for Sexism”, The Guardian 15 October. Available from:
<http://www.theguardian.com>. [29 September 2015].
Wilson, E., M.A. 2014, "DIVERSITY, CULTURE AND THE GLASS CEILING", Journal of cultural diversity, vol. 21, no. 3, pp. 83-9.
BIOGRAPHIES
Imanuella R. Andilolo is lecturer at the Management Department in Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Mataram, in Lombok, Indonesia. She obtained her Master Degree from University of Tilburg in The Netherlands. Main research interest is tourism.
Ikma Citra Ranteallo is lecturer at the Department of Sociology, Faculty of Political and Social Sciences, Udayana University, in Denpasar, Indonesia. She obtained herMaster Degree from Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta. Main research interest is sociology of food and taste, and media.
