READER’S GUIDE
TAKING THE HEAT: WOMEN CHEFS AND GENDER INEQUALITY IN THE
PROFESSIONAL KITCHEN
By:
Deborah A. Harris and Patti Giuffre
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WELCOME!
Thank you for your interest in Taking the Heat: Women Chefs and Gender Inequality
in the Professional Kitchen! We developed this reading guide to help instructors who
are thinking about using the book in their courses. In this reader’s guide, we’ll
provide an overview of the book chapter-by-chapter along with some discussion
questions to get students talking about the book and the topics we cover. We have
also included some in-class assignments that relate to Taking the Heat.
When we first began working on Taking the Heat, our editor at Rutgers University
Press wanted to know what kinds of classes the book would fit. Our immediate
answer was that the book would complement courses in gender, work and
occupations, food and society, and qualitative methods. Those are the courses we
teach and, of course, these were some of the main literatures that informed the final
product. Therefore, most of our suggestions are geared towards those classes.
However, we also believe Taking the Heat can also be an appropriate
accompaniment to courses in the areas of culture, social theory, and consumption.
We encourage faculty to be creative in how the approach and apply the book in their
courses. If you come up with an interesting assignment or a discussion question that
seems to really spark students’ interests, please pass that along. We’d love to add
them to this guide.
Deborah Harris, Texas State University: dh57@txstate.edu
Patti Giuffre, Texas State University: pg07@txstate.edu
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Introduction: “There’s a Girl in the Kitchen?!”: Why a Study of Women Chefs
We begin our book by asking the question: If women are the gender most commonly
associated with cooking at home, why is professional cooking by chefs so male
dominated? Before expanding on this question we discuss the basic organization of
most professional kitchens and how they are divided into the “hot” side where
entrees and accompanying foods are prepared and cooked and the “cold” side where
cold appetizers and desserts are prepared. Whereas the hot side of the kitchen is
more male dominated, the cold side, particularly pastry chefs have more equal
gender representation. We also outline the professional cooking hierarchy that
culminates with head or executive chefs being the highest position in most
professional kitchens. Only about 20% of head or executive chefs are women. To
understand why this disparity exists, we provide a theoretical framework that
incorporates Pierre Bourdieu’s concept of fields—and Patricia Parkhurst Ferguson’s
notion of the gastronomic field—with Joan Acker’s work on gendered organizations.
We suggest that using the concept of a gastronomic field helps understand the
gendered history of the occupation and how different actors within the field help
uphold male dominance. Gendered organizations theory helps explain how this
dominance is maintained even as more women enter the field and what steps can be
taken to change it. We conclude with a discussion of our qualitative methodology
that includes content analysis of food media and in-depth interviews with women
chefs.
1. Growing up, who performed most of the cooking in the home? Was there a
particular reason for this?
2. Because of the growing popularity of chefs, many people who work in the
larger food industry have adopted the title. What does it mean to be a “chef”
and why do you think so many people now use this title?
3. Can you name any “famous” men chefs? What about “famous” women chefs?
Keep in mind that Food Network hosts like Rachel Ray or Paula Deen
wouldn’t fit the definition of “chef” but hosts like Bobby Flay or Mario Batali
would.
4. More chefs on the “hot side” of the kitchen are men, but the “cold side” is
more equal in terms of the numbers of men and women working there. Why
do you think that could be the case?
5. How does a “field” seem to work? What are some of the actors that shape the
gastronomic field?
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6. How are organizations gendered? What does Joan Acker mean by gendered
organizations? Think of some examples from your own work and
workplaces. Were some jobs considered men’s work, and others, women’s
work? Why? Why is this theory useful for understanding the culinary
industry, broadly, and fine restaurants, specifically?
Home versus Haute: Gender and Status in the Evolution of Professional Chefs
In order to understand the current gender composition in professional kitchens, it’s
necessary to learn about the origins and evolution of the chef occupation. Originally,
chefs came from the French military and worked in the homes of wealthy
aristocrats. Despite their talents, chefs were seen as little more than servants, but
the rise of the first “celebrity chefs” Marie Antoine Careme and Auguste Escoffier
showed the talents of chefs could reach beyond elite houses. The rise of restaurant
culture and cooking expositions helped raise the status of chefs, but women were
excluded from participating. In fact, men chefs and food writers of the time
denigrated the cooking of women in the home as a means of illustrating how their
measured, learned cooking in public was superior and worthy of status. Later in the
chapter, we demonstrate how more recent changes to the gastronomic field, such as
the rise of nouvelle cuisine and the establishment of modern celebrity chefs also
excluded women.
1. In Taking the Heat, chefs are referred to as “the new rock stars” who have
stepped out of the kitchen and into the spotlight. Where do we see chefs
today? What forms of media, products are they part of?
2. Before reading Taking the Heat, what did you think about professional chefs?
Were you surprised to learn that chefs originated as more of a servant class
than the celebrities we see today?
3. Why do you think early chefs had to distinguish their work from what
women do at home?
4. The chapter opens with a discussion of the ABC competitive cooking show,
The Taste, where professional chefs compete against home cooks. What
makes a “professional” chef different from a “home” cook?
5. Can you think of any other jobs that had to create boundaries to keep or
enhance its status? Think about creative jobs where there are “amateurs” and
“professionals.”
From Good to Great: Food Media and Becoming a Great Chef
In this chapter we discuss the power the food media holds in the career success of
chefs. Through our analysis of over 2200 pieces of food writing and restaurant
reviews, we found that men and women were discussed very differently in the
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media. In general, men were described as rebels and rule breakers who brought
intellectualism to cooking and reimagining cuisine, challenged tradition, and formed
culinary empires. Women chefs were able to create winning dishes, adhere to time
honored traditions, and focus more on pleasing others than winning accolades and
building empires. Taken together, these findings suggest that the way the media
presents men and women chefs helps uphold the home and haute distinctions and
reaffirms the male model of cooking as the benchmark for judging “great chefs.”
1. How does food media influence the gastronomic field?
2. How does the work of critics and other specialized writers like food writers
help uphold the status quo in the gastronomic field?
3. What are some other forms of media (maybe social media) that are becoming
important to the gastronomic field?
4. What example(s) from Chapter Two struck you as the most blatant example
of how food media depicts men and women chefs differently?
5. It could be argued that men chefs and the food they cook are just better than
women chefs and their food and that’s why they are more likely to be judged
as “great” chefs. After reading Taking the Heat, how would you respond to
this?
6. How would you refer to Time magazine editor Howard Chua-Eoan’s claims
that women weren’t excluded from the “Gods of Food” issue but that the
decisions about who to include were based on “influence” in the food world?
7. Consider the research method used in this chapter: a content analysis of chef
profiles and restaurant reviews. What can we learn from this research
method? What are its strengths? What are we unable to learn about with this
method? What are its weaknesses?
Fitting In and Standing Out: Entering the Professional Restaurant Kitchen
In this chapter, we examined the early years of women chef’s careers—their early
training and first few jobs in the gastronomic field. We describe the special
challenges women chefs had to face because of their gender and how they tried to fit
into what was often all-make cooking teams. The women chefs described being
tested by their men colleagues and they had to demonstrate physical and mental
strength to be taken seriously by their coworkers. A major task was to make sure
that women managed their emotions so that they did not fall into the “emotional”
woman stereotype and the importance of never showing feminine emotional
responses such as crying was mentioned by a large number of our interviewees. We
devote a special section to issues of sexual harassment due to its prevalence in
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professional kitchens and the special pains women chefs had to deal with these
interactions. Finally, we discuss a pattern of gender neutrality in which women
chefs actually denied the power of gender at work and insisted they had never been
treated differently because of their gender—even if they had related experiences to
the researchers that appeared directly related to gender.
1. How does the description of working in professional kitchens in Taking the
Heat differ from how being a chef is depicted in food media, television, etc.?
2. What were some of the ways women chefs had to prove themselves to their
male colleagues? How does this add to the invisible labor women chefs had to
undertake to be seen as serious chefs?
3. Every worker—male and female—has to make efforts to fit in at work. How
were the actions required by women chefs related to their gender?
4. Describe the gender neutrality rhetoric used by the women chefs
interviewed. Why do you think some of the chefs interviewed used a rhetoric
of gender neutrality in describing their work experiences? How might this
rhetoric help them “survive” their gendered work?
5. Were you surprised by the prevalence of sexual harassment the chefs
described? How did women seem to handle the sexual harassment?
6. Some chefs argued that the sexually charged and teasing atmosphere of
professional kitchens make it a unique work culture that they really like.
Others felt that this “rowdiness” helped detract from the path towards
professionalism and greater respect of chefs. What do you think? Does the
kitchen culture help or hurt the occupation?
Bitches, Girly Girls, and Moms: Women’s Perceptions of Gender Appropriate
Leadership Styles in Professional Kitchens
In Chapter 4, we examine what happens when women chefs are able to ascend to
positions of leadership within professional kitchens. The women chefs report that
women have three roles available when they lead—bitches, girly girls, or moms/big
sisters. Bitches were women chefs who adopted an authoritative, masculine form of
leadership. While this fell in line with the stereotype of the angry, yelling man chef
that is very prevalent in popular culture depictions of chefs, women who acted
bitchy were seen as poor leaders who were being inauthentic by adopting this
masculine personal. Girly girls were women who relied on their sexuality or
niceness to get what they wanted from men staff. This strategy could be useful in the
short term, but in the long run, the men would not respect girly girls and they would
rarely advance very far. A better avenue, the chefs suggested, was to take on the role
of mom or big sister. This was a feminine leadership style that was seen as
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legitimate by men colleagues. Although we argue that this leadership style still
reinforces essentialized notions of gender, our interviewees state that role afforded
them the opportunity to develop and display a feminine strength that made them
better leaders than men.
1. What are some characteristics of “masculine” and “feminine” leaders?
2. How does the choices to be bitchy, girly, or a mom play into stereotypes
about women’s leadership? Why do women appear to rely on or perceive
these three gendered styles? What are alternative leadership styles that are
available to women, other than these three? Which style appears to permit
women to succeed and move up in the kitchen hierarchy? Which style
garners the most respect from coworkers and employees?
3. Does the women’s leadership roles we discuss remind you of critiques of
women leaders in any other fields (politics, business)?
4. How does the concept of tokenism relate to women’s leadership styles?
5. Several of the chefs described their leadership style as “just the way I am”
and their “natural” selves. How does this relate to the concept of gender
essentialism? What role does gender essentialism play in upholding the
gender hierarchy in the workplace?
Challenging “Choices”: Why Some Women Leave Restaurant Kitchen Work
Chapter 5 describes women chefs who left the professional kitchen for other jobs in
the culinary field. It also discusses women’s perceptions of and experiences with
attempts to balance and manage work/family responsibilities. Among our in-depth
interview participants, 17 of the women had left kitchen work by the time of our
interviews. The main reason given for their exits was the incompatibility of
restaurant work with family lives. The long hours, little time off, and lack of health
benefits made it difficult for mothers to remain in the field. We discuss some of the
alternative jobs held by women who leave professional kitchens. Women
interviewed left the professional kitchen to open their own bakery shops or catering
businesses, worked for upscale grocers, or became instructors at culinary
academies. Women who stay in professional kitchens were able to do so because
they decided to delay or forgo having children, had supportive spouses and family
members, or could do what they wanted because they were owners of restaurants.
1. Earlier in the book, Camille, a pastry chef, talks about how it’s “not really a
man-woman” thing that affects men and women chefs’ careers. How does the
“choices” described in Chapter 5 challenge Camille’s assertion that gender
doesn’t have an impact on chefs’ careers?
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2. The authors purposefully used quotation marks for “choices” in the chapter
title. Why are sociologists concerned about using the language of “choice”
when discussing balancing work and family? What does “choice” rhetoric
seem to ignore?
3. Some might say that women know the conditions of chef work. They know
going into it that chefs cannot leave the “line” to care for a sick child. So, why
do women do this work if they know the challenges that they will face?
4. Consider the alternative jobs (outside the professional kitchen) that women
entered. What are advantages or benefits of these jobs for women? What
might be disadvantages for women’s work lives when they leave the
professional kitchen?
5. Why don’t more women “lean in” and demand more family-friendly policies
in restaurants? Why don’t more women “lean in” and demand more familyfriendly policies in all male-dominated workplaces?
6. What is the “ideal worker norm?” How does the ideal worker norm affect
men and women workers differently? Why do we have a strong ideal worker
norm in many workplaces in the United States? What are ways to challenge
the ideal worker norm?
Conclusion: Where Are the Great Women Chefs?
The concluding chapter summarizes the major findings about how gender
influences professional outcomes for women chefs. Historical trends, legitimizing
agents that favor men chefs, hypermasculine workplace cultures, gender
stereotypes about leadership, and workplace arrangements that make combining
work and family responsibilities difficult all work together to disadvantage, not only
women professional chefs, but also women in a number of male-dominated fields.
We examine the commonly held belief that chefs are a different breed of worker and
their workplaces distinct cultures that would be difficult to alter. The chapter
discusses changes that can be made within the field and larger society in order to
make professional cooking (and other male-dominated jobs) more gender inclusive.
1. Now that you have read the book, how would you answer the question contained
in this chapter’s title: Where are the great women chefs? What would the authors
say to that question? How would the chefs they interviewed answer that question?
2. Describe some of the authors’ ideas for decreasing gender inequality in the
culinary industry. What do you think of their proposed solutions? Does one seem
more important than some others?
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3. Women interviewed say that they are better than and different from men chefs.
Consequently, they argue that they are changing the professional kitchen culture for
the better. Do you think the increased presence of women alters workplace
subcultures? How? Why? Do you think women’s presence and leadership will alter
other male-dominated fields? Consider, for example, recent changes in the military
that have lifted bans on women in participating in ground combat, or being able to
work on submarines.
4. Evaluate the research methods in the book: Historical data, interviews with
women chefs, and a content analysis of chef media. How does this multi-method
approach help us to understand gender inequality at work? What might the authors
have done differently? Are there any missing perspectives?
5. Does the book make you feel hopeful or skeptical about decreasing gender
inequality in workplaces?
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS FOR SPECIFIC COURSES
Work and Occupations:
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Chefs are often touted as being a meritocratic career—those who succeed are
those with the greatest talent and drive. After reading Taking the Heat, would
you say that being a chef is a meritocracy? Why or why not? If not, what
other factors appear to influence a chef’s success in the gastronomic field?
Can you think of any other occupations that are based around feminine skills
but have been transformed into masculine occupations? What about
masculine-skilled jobs that are now seen as feminine occupations? Do some
research and find out how these jobs came to be associated with a particular
gender.
How were early men chefs able to establish their occupation as a masculine
one? How is this gender segregation maintained today?
What suggestions would you make to encourage more women to become
professional chefs and to succeed in this competitive career?
Professional kitchens have a reputation for being loud, competitive, and
crude places to work. Some argue these conditions foster teamwork and
unique work environments while other suggest these environment can foster
macho behavior that can alienate women employees. What do you think? Do
kitchens need the raunchy humor and competitive attitudes?
The book discusses ideal worker norms. Chefs, like many workers, are
expected to be completely devoted to their work and to prioritize work over
family. How could you or we change workplace cultures so that more
workers could prioritize family over work and STILL be respected by co9
workers? Should workplaces, in general, be more family friendly? What
would the government, businesses, and workers themselves have to do in
order for workplaces to be family friendly in the U.S.?
Sociology of Gender:
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For instructors: Write “Masculine” on the left side of the chalk or whiteboard.
Write “Feminine” on the right side of the board. Ask students to call out
typical traits that are associated with these two genders. Write their answers
under their respective headings. After a few minutes of this, write “Chef” in
the middle of the board. Have students call out attributes of a professional
chef. Then ask them which gender these traits seem to align with best. This
can lead into a discussion about the gender coding of certain occupations.
In Taking the Heat, we discuss the concept of gender neutrality—the notion
that gender no longer matters at work. What are some ways our participants
call upon the concept of gender neutrality in their interviews? We discuss
how sometimes these claims of gender neutrality seemed contradictory—
they would claim gender didn’t matter but then give examples of times when
gender really did seem to matter at work (e.g., being passed over for a
promotion after getting pregnant). Why do you think the women were
reluctant to ascribe certain experiences as related to gender? What
consequences does this have for studying gender?
If women want to be successful in male-dominated workplaces, occupations,
or industries, should they downplay gender difference? Or, should they
emphasize differences between men and women?
Similarly, should women in male-dominated work settings try to be “like
men?” Do women have to be “like men” in order to be successful at work? If
not, what would it look like for women to be “like women” and be successful
in predominantly male workplaces?
What does “feminine leadership” look like? What are characteristics of
feminine leadership according to the women chefs interviewed? Would these
styles of leadership be advantageous to women leaders in other maledominated workplaces? What about in female-dominated workplaces?
Refer to the following article by Jessica Valenti:
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/jan/15/eliminatesexism-kitchen-women-chefs-start-their-own
Evaluate her arguments. Is opening all-female kitchens a way to decrease
gender inequality at work? Will doing so encourage more success for women
chefs? Why/why not?
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Food & Society:
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Can you think of any famous men chefs? What about well-known
women chefs? How do we know these people are really “chefs”
(versus television personalities, for example)? What is their chef
“persona” like? Do they draw from the “home” or the “haute” category
in how they present themselves?
Watch a male-hosted cooking show on The Food Network, The
Cooking Channel, or Youtube and a show hosted by a female. Are
either of them “real” chefs? How do you know? How do they two hosts
perform gender (appearance, environment, mannerisms, types of
foods prepared and displaced)? How do they perform legitimacy?
Where do they fall along the home-haute dichotomy? How do they
What types of cooking seem to garner the highest status within the
gastronomic sphere?
How does the work of food writers and critics help uphold male
dominance in professional cooking?
Many of the most prestigious chef awards are for “Best Chef,” but
some will single out “Best Female Chef,” and “Best Male Chef.” Should
there be awards for “Best Female Chef,” or should there only be “Best
Chef” awards?
Qualitative Methods:
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Why do you think the women sometimes had trouble labeling some of their
experiences as sexual harassment or gender discrimination? As researchers,
how should we address these examples when participants claim conditions
like gender (or race or sexuality…) do not matter, but we believe they do?
What does a content analysis of food writing and food reviews provide that
another method (like interviewing food critics) might not?
What kinds of information did we learn from conducting interviews with
chefs that would not have been possible to obtain with a survey?
What kinds of future studies or new research questions do you have after
reading Taking the Heat? What research design would you propose to help
you answer your question?
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IN-CLASS EXERCISES AND/OR OUT-OF-CLASS HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENTS
1. Find 20 chef profiles in food magazines. Compare how men and women are
described differently, if at all. Compare pictures (if provided in the articles) and
descriptions of men and women’s cooking, leadership styles, and mentions of family
(including spouses, partners, and/or children).
2. Instructors: Ask your library to subscribe to Cherry Bombe (see
http://cherrybombe.com/pages/about-us).
Students: Look at the Cherry Bombe website and read through two of the issues. Do
you think the portrayals of women chefs will give them more visibility and status?
What are the pros and cons of having a magazine specifically for women chefs?
3. Look at images of women chefs and men chefs on Google Images. Do you notice
any differences in the images? Consider the activity, facial expression, posture, etc.
4. Go to Working Mother magazine (http://www.workingmother.com/) and find its
most recent annual report entitled, “100 Best Companies.” What makes a company
family friendly according to this report? Is there anything surprising? Using the
variables in this report, do any seem to apply to restaurant kitchens? Are there any
that might seem like a “long shot,” that is, highly unlikely, to occur in restaurants?
Which of the variables seem essential for workers who want to balance work and
family in any workplace? Choose the top 5 and explain why these are the most
important.
5. Do some online research to find 10-15 examples of sexual harassment policies in
different industries or workplaces. What do the policies have in common? Do you
think these policies actually help to decrease sexual harassment at work? Would
these policies decrease sexual harassment in restaurants or other “sexualized”
workplace cultures?
6. Read through Sheryl Sandberg’s “lean in” website (http://leanin.org/) and/or the
first chapter of Lean In. Do lean in strategies help to decrease gender inequality in
workplaces? If women are excluded from men’s work networks (intentionally OR
unintentionally), should they lean in or not? Will leaning in help workers who are
marginalized in some way (e.g. age, sexual orientation, gender identity, race, and/or
ethnicity) to be successful at work?
7. Watch Sheryl Sandberg’s Ted Talk or one of her many interviews on talk shows or
news shows. Summarize Sandberg’s lean in strategies. Do you think the women
chefs in this book are leaning in? Why or why not? What are the potential
advantages and disadvantages of “leaning in” in professional kitchens or other maledominated workplaces?
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8. Watch the following webclips about internationally known chef, Gabrielle
Hamilton:
http://www.makers.com/gabrielle-hamilton
http://www.makers.com/moments/staying-self-focused
http://www.makers.com/moments/take-chance
A. Why do you think her food is described as “comfort food?” What is comfort
food? Why would comfort food carry less status and prestige in the culinary
industry?
B. Find an interview with Gordon Ramsey, or a clip from one of his “Hell’s
Kitchen” episodes. Compare how he and Gabrielle Hamilton talk about food, their
restaurant, and/or their staff.
9. Thematic analysis: Below is an exercise Deborah has used in her qualitative
research methods course. It usually takes 1-2 class periods but it is a great way to
get students used to analyzing interview data. Students begin with edge coding the
interview transcripts in order to find an answer to “How women chefs earn respect
from their male colleagues.” After about 15 minutes, students get into groups of 2-3
and then spend about 20 minutes discussing their findings and narrowing this down
to 3-4 common themes within the data. Students are told to make sure they have
plenty of evidence from the interviews to illustrate their themes. Then the instructor
asks the groups to share some of their themes and writes them on the
whiteboard/chalkboard. From these excerpts, students tend to identify several
themes (double standards for women chefs, women have to be bitchy, women have
to be nice, women act like moms or big sisters, women treat coworkers like family).
The instructor asks for evidence of each theme. After this, the instructor discusses
how the students could write this up as a findings section (how to organize the
themes to flow together).
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THEMATIC ANALYSIS
BACKGROUND: With any type of qualitative research project there comes the time
when you have to analyze all the data you have collected. One way of analyzing data
is referred to as “thematic analysis” and involves examining your data (from
interviews, field notes, notes about media content, etc.), underlining and edge
coding your data, and identifying common themes across your data.
DIRECTIONS: For this assignment, you have been provided selections from
interview transcripts. The overall project was aimed at understanding the work
experiences of female chefs to help us learn more about women in nontraditional
jobs. In particular, the data you have are the responses to questions about how these
women earned the respect of their male coworkers.
To complete the assignment, read over the interviews, highlight or underline
segments that you think relate to the issue of “Earning Respect in the Kitchen.” After
you do this, pair up with another student and discuss what you have highlighted.
Try and see if there are any common patterns to how female chefs earn respect. Do
the interviews seem to agree? Are there any disagreements? These general headings
are your themes and you should label the themes to the side of the statement (edge
coding).
List some of the themes you identified below.
THEMES:
THEMATIC ANALYSIS
Amber (34, White, caterer—former events director for a restaurant)
I would definitely say that I tried to really sort of pay attention to my staff. I sort of
always tried to pay attention to their families. If they had a problem, I was always ready
to put myself out to make sure they were taken care of. If they couldn’t come to work
because of a family emergency, whatever it was, I was like: “Don’t worry about it. No
problem. I’ll take care of it.” And it would. The men…the male managers were more
ready to punish, in a sense, or reprimand for not coming to work when maybe it wasn’t
their fault. I definitely tried to see the whole picture and act accordingly.
Camille (32, White, executive pastry chef)
I also think there’s kind of an element of, you know, there’s a lot of physical side to the
kitchen that maybe isn’t obvious unless you’re in it. You know, you’ve got a bag of flour
weighs fifty pounds. And, you know, you need to be able to move that from one place to
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another (laughs). Asking a boy to do that for you would NOT be a good idea. Cause
you’re definitely going to get put in a category (laughs) of “You Can’t REALLY Do
Your Job” because you’re not physically strong enough. We have a girl on the line right
now, and her name’s Andra, and, you know, she’s tough. And she let them know right off
the bat that she, you know, that she can talk just as nasty (laughs). You know, that she
can say just as many bad words. She can carry the case of veal bones herself and she kind
of initiated that—set it up—and now there’s no doubt. Everybody knows she can do it.
Dana (44, White, executive chef)
Oh, it’s such a fine line. It is a double-standard. A guy can say whatever he wants, well,
not whatever he wants, but he can say the same thing and get a result. For me, it takes
more. I can’t say it the same way. I have to find another way to say it. I have to know
those people well enough to know how they’re going to act when I ask them for
something. To get what I want, I have to know how to manipulate how I am. I had to
have a talk with one of the servers. He got really offended. He and I play around a lot.
We’re always mean and like brother and sister, we laugh about it. One time he said, “It’s
your tone when you ask me.” I said, “Jake says the same things to you and you just shut
your mouth and do what you’re told. But when I say it, it’s a problem.” He said, “It’s just
the way you say it.” I was like, “You just don’t like that I’m saying it.” I got really upset.
“It’s not fair that he can say that, a guy can say that, and you just do what you’re told.”
He said, “You’re just being mean.” I said, “I’m not being mean.” It’s my biggest pet
peeve.
Brenda (54, White, bakery owner—former executive pastry chef)
I think they’re more open. I don’t know if they were trying to get a rise out of me or not,
but I think they realized that you can say anything to me. I don’t blush easily. I don’t get
offended easily. ‘Cause I’ll smack it right back at you if I have to. They just kind of
realized that I was down to earth. I’m a nice boss. I’m too nice, which was a downfall,
too. I’m too nice. But, it’s like “Just tell me, whatever your problem is.” So, I think it was
easy for them to be more open with me ‘cause I was a female. I don’t know if they saw
me as their sister or what. But, they also knew that I would go fight for them. And I
would. I always did. It was just easy. And, I honestly think that because I was nice—I
wasn’t a bitch to everybody—I was nice to everyone from the steward on up to everyone.
I was nice to them. And I think that makes a big difference in how they treat you… And
one of the other girls who worked at nighttime, my cook two at the time, she was bitchy.
And, if somebody interrupted her routine or whatever she was doing—because at night
they had to do the desserts a la minute—she’d get all bitchy. And, bottom line I said:
“You need to be nicer to people. And, they’ll respect you.”
Erin (37, White, chef de cuisine)
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I have a lot of respect in this kitchen because I won’t ask anybody to do anything that I
wouldn’t do. I mop the floor and get my hands dirty just like everybody else. And I think
that I have gained a lot of respect because of that. So no one feels like, you know, I think
that I’m better than anyone else. So that has helped me along the way. Occasionally it
gets tense in the kitchen, but this is sort of a unique restaurant. We’re all family.
Jane (35, White, pastry instructor—former pastry chef)
There were always comments made on the line…I for some reason got kind of lucky.
Most of it was not directed at me. I think maybe since I grew up with boys and was kind
of a tomboy growing up. I knew how to hang with the guys a little bit. I don’t wear a lot
of jewelry or make-up or anything like that. It was easier for me to blend in. There were
some of my co-workers who I worked with who there were comments made about them,
sexual and otherwise, and then once you ever showed any kind of weakness at all, it was
just like they felt like this is a guy’s area and if you can’t hang with that then you need to
get out.
Karen (32, Hispanic, executive pastry chef)
You do have to have a strong personality to lead and to manage, to be calm under
pressure. That’s a big part of this job. You can’t do that if you’re meek and you’re highly
sensitive and if you have a thin skin. No one’s going to follow a person like that. It’s a
double-edged sword and I can live with that. I can live with that “she’s difficult to deal
with” but chances are there’s other men who do the same thing but it’s acceptable. It has
always been. I have always felt that way, that I get that because I’m a woman. That I’m
difficult to deal with because I push back but if I were a man and I pushed back, then I
would assertive and I would be aggressive. I would be a go getter. But because I’m a
woman, I’m difficult to deal with.
Chelsea (36, White, pastry instructor—former pastry chef)
I always tell everyone this theory. I think they [women chefs] either choose to be slutty or
they choose to be bitchy. I mean (laughs) you’re either tough or you’re not. It’s not
necessarily a bad thing [to be slutty]. It’s how they use that to get what they want. You
can be the girl who is flirty and sweet and whatever yk, that’s not really going to propel
you anywhere. They’re [the male chefs] going to take advantage of that or think you can’t
do things. They’re not going to have respect for you that way. You probably get what you
want but you won’t get respect. You’ll get the sugar off the top shelf. Yk, maybe they
won’t completely harass you all the time because you’re sweet to them or whatever. Or
you can choose to be like, “I’m not going to respond to any of that and I’m going to be
the bitch.” Then, eventually they respect you. So I was always very sweet but then I
learned that…but I was always very bitchy too… I hate saying I’m a bitch (laughs)
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because I’m not. It’s just that any woman who’s put in that level of authority is a bitch,
yk? Like here, I still have that problem here with all the guy chefs. They do not want me
to tell them to do things. I’m like, “Are you kidding me?” If it was a guy, you’d have no
problem with it. I find that they…with me, they want me to hold their hands. They want
me to be super nice to them, and I’m just like, “Sorry. I’m not your mother.” It’s a funny
dynamic.
MOVIES AND DOCUMENTARIES ABOUT CHEFS
Films
Chef (2014)
LeChef (2012)
Haute Cuisine (2012)
Julie and Julia (2009)
Today’s Special (2009)
Ratatoullie (2007)
No Reservations (2007)
Tortilla Soup (2001)
Mostly Martha (2001)
Big Night (1996)
The Hundred-Foot Journey (2014)
Eat Drink Man Woman (1994)
Documentaries
Chef’s Table (2015)
Noma, My Perfect Storm (2014)
Jiro Dreams of Sushi (2011)
A Matter of Taste: Serving Up Paul Liebrandt (2011)
Ludo (2013)
Spinning Plates (2012)
Three Stars (2012)
The Restauranteur (2010)
Kings of Pastry (2009)
Pressure Cooker (2008)
The Kitchen (2006)
The Mind of a Chef (2012-2013)
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