Significant Imbalance Between Men And Women In The Kitchen

Gender inequality in the kitchen has been around as long as we can remember. Historically, cooking and other household chores were naturally assigned to women as men’s duty were to work outside to provide for the family’s needs. Even up to today in which women’s participation in the work force is increasing, we are still expecting women to cook more than men.

It is easy to speculate that women are the masters of kitchens since they are the ones who always cook for the family. They are experienced and passionate when it comes to cooking. However, it is different in professional kitchens such as restaurants and hotels because in reality they are largely dominated by male chefs. According to a recent survey of 7,000 chefs, there are about 80% of restaurants chefs are male and only 20% are female chefs.

One factor that contribute to the male dominance in professional kitchens is that most restaurant owners prefer to hire young men than women as they are more willing to work the unsociable hours, have more physical strength, and speed to run around the kitchen with heavy pans and pots. Another reason on why restauranteurs likes to hire men is because they are very competitive. They take cooking more seriously and always want to give more as they don’t want to be outshone by women. On the other hand, female chefs are calmer in the kitchen. For them it is not about technical skills or having a competition with the opposite sex but more of providing healthy and nutritious food on the plate.

Another factor of why there are fewer female chefs in professional kitchens than men is because women dislike a high pressure environment. Society expects them to be on-hand when it comes to their family. Working in restaurants and hotels take a lot of hard and long hours work which can take away their time for their family.

Despite the women’s participation in the work force and men getting involve in household chores. Women still experience social stigma if they fail to have enough time for the family especially for the kids. They are responsible and expected to provide healthy meals for the family, attend to the kids, and take care of the house. These make many women to prefer getting a part time job instead of full-time work. Men don’t experience the same social pressure as women when it comes to providing time for the family thus giving them more opportunities to pursue their careers.

Being male or female has nothing to do with being a brilliant cook or chef. Women may be more likely to cook at home and men in restaurants but both can excel at cooking in whatever field they chose, home or professional kitchen. Having a natural love for food, passion in cooking, and wanting to serve the best food whether it’s for family or customers are equally commendable.

Isabella Whitmore is a wife and a mother of two. She enjoys cooking and discovering new recipes. She writes for https://electrickettlesplus.com/, an appliance website where you can find interesting electric kettles that are multipurpose allowing you to cook different meals.