Audience Statement
The audience that I expect to read my research paper would probably be people who feel strongly about women’s rights or women’s equality/mistreatment. I would expect more women to read this essay then men because It is about women and men tend to not enjoy reading about women being better or more professional then themselves. I would also assume that anyone interested in learning about what a woman potentially goes through in her work place and in the food industry would choose to read this paper. This essay discussed many different topics regarding women in both the food industry and work, topics that many will overlook.
Women in the Food Industry
As many know, from history classes, or even movies, women have always been known as the ones who do all of the cooking. They are expected to be in the kitchen whenever something needs to be made, nobody would have ever expected a man to cook anything. Times have changed, although many still have the opinion that a woman’s place is in the kitchen, many male chefs may argue that women are no longer dominant when it comes to the cooking industry. Statistics seem to now be able to support that men are now more commonly seen in the kitchen then women. There are a few solid reasons that women aren’t treated fairly, including sexual harassment/ assault, and their own families growing and expanding.
It is difficult for women to find a position in a restaurant or cooking business that is dominated by men. Although a lot of female chefs are extraordinary cooks, their work commonly goes completely unnoticed throughout the full length of their careers (Feit). “Up until the past 30 years, professional cooking was closed to women, today women account for about 50% of cooking college graduates” (Feit). Along with that, “cooking was never really considered a glamourous profession until around 20 years ago” (Feit). Women have always been forced to work much harder to get the recognition that they deserve for the things that they work the hardest for. Women seemingly don’t care for the recognition that comes with professional cooking, “many women are okay not getting as much attention as men because they are more confident in their skills” (Feit, Rachel). They know that they are good at what they do, women don’t need the public’s attention to feel good about themselves when it comes to cooking. Lisa Fox states that if women, especially female chefs in Austin don’t receive as much attention as male chefs then it’s probably because they don’t want to. To many women and men, restaurant jobs are more than just a job, they are lifelong careers which will impact someone’s life for a long time. “Current female chefs strongly encourage seriously preparing yourself for a cooking career instead of simply jumping into it” (Feit). Putting your all into any career is the only way in which one can be as successful as they wish to be.
Many women have been sexually assaulted throughout their lives, most will not speak up about it because they may be scared about what may happen to them if they report it. As it has been proven, about one out of every three women are victims of sexual harassment in the work place. Many women who experience the horror of sexual assault feel as if they can’t leave their company because they don’t feel confident that they’ll be able to find another job that will be able to support them. “The press is more excited to report a woman’s victimization then their individual talents as a chef” (Cohen). The big news organizations seem to think that the world cares less for a woman’s individual success and that they would rather see female chefs mentioned only in incidents of harassment. “Women still don’t feel comfortable enough to come forward about assault in their work place” (Cohen). Society and male favoritism has seemingly put a fear in a lot of women’s heads, they don’t feel as if they can speak up because they know that companies won’t hesitate to hand their job over to a man. Hardworking women shouldn’t be afraid to speak up about being sexually assaulted in their workplace, and men shouldn’t be able to take their jobs so easily.
In the article, I found on being a female chef, Dominique Crenn spoke on how she wishes that it could all just be equal. A chef, that’s who she is, it’s how she’s known and what she’s been known for, for the majority of her life. “I have spent my career watching from the sidelines while my male chef colleagues are asked, “What is it like being a chef?”—not a male chef—and I long to be able to answer as they do.” (Crenn) In the industry of cooking, for chefs, it turns out that most people simply assume that men and only men are chefs. One statement that was mentioned in Crenn’s article was “you’re good for a female chef”, many will take that as degrading. “I am expected to be a champion on the gender cause on top of that. Don’t get me wrong: I want to help pave the way to make things better for female chefs in our industry—and for all chefs in general—but I worry that I will always be seen as a female chef first, and a chef second.” (Crenn). Although women used to always be responsible for the cooking and food in the home and once they began to move up in the industry they still are unable to be recognized as chefs. It’s still ‘female chefs’. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2015, only 19.6 percent of the head cooks and chefs in America were women (Pearse). Although the number of women in the industry are low, women still influence and change the way people look at foods and working with foods, every day.
A company can’t expect a woman to not have a life, start a family, or anything, they can’t be expected to throw their personal life away simply so they can keep a job. Many get treated differently and even lose their jobs for getting pregnant and having a child. “If I didn’t have children, I would most likely still be working in a professional kitchen.” (Beertsen, Saskia). They receive less hours when they do get to work and are practically taken care of by coworkers and their bosses. If/when they lose their jobs, it is much harder for a pregnant woman to find a new job than a woman who isn’t, simply because of the fact that she is pregnant and a woman. “I applied for unemployment and also applied for a few more jobs, but each time they saw my pregnant belly they said no right away.” (Beertsen, Saskia). Women already go through the challenges of being a woman, getting paid less than men, and now they lose their jobs just for decided to have a child and start a family.
As woman have always seemingly been in the kitchen, cooking and feeding the family, when it comes to jobs in the cooking/food industry, women are less important to their employers. They get paid less and their work tends to go unrecognized, they are considered below men and aren’t expected to be able to be better then a man in the industry. I believe that women deserve to be recognized and appreciated for their hard work and contributions as chefs. Women have worked hard enough to be respected by their peers.
Works Cited
AAUW. “Know Your Rights at Work.” AAUW, 2017, www.aauw.org/what-we-do/legal-resources/know-your-rights-at-work/workplace-sexual-harassment/.
Beertsen, Saskia. “We Talked to Female Chefs About Being Pregnant in the Kitchen.” Munchies, 25 Mar. 2017, 12:00 PM, www.munchies.vice.com/en_us/article /78qjqa/we-talked-to-female-chefs-about-being-pregnant-in-the-kitchen
Cohen, Amanda. “I’ve Worked in Food for 20 Years. Now You Finally Care About Female Chefs?” Esquire, Hearst Communications, 6 Nov. 2017, www.esquire.com/food-drink/resturants/a13134079/sexual-harassment-sexism-food-industry/.
Crenn, Dominique. “We’re Not ‘Female Chefs,’ Just Chefs.” Munchies, 8 Mar. 2017, 12:00 PM, www.munchies.vice.com/en_us/article/qkx9wp/were-not-female-chefs-just-chefs.
Feit, Rachel. “The Whole Woman.” Austin Chronicle, Austin Chronicle Corp, 5 May. 2000. www.austinchronicle.com/food/2000-05-05/77058/.
Pearse/ Food Tank, Laura. “9 Women of Color Who are Changing the Food Industry.” AlterNet, Food Tank, 29 Dec. 2016, 12:00 PM, www.alternet.org/food/9-women-color-who-are-changing-food-industry.
Reflection:
if I was given the chance to go back and revise this paper, I would have a lot to change. I would have gone into more detail on the topic and found more information. I feel as if I might have chosen to broad of a topic for a research paper, so I would also pick a more specific topic. By being Moree specific with my topic I would have been able to provide more details on one topic of the paper. It would have also attracted more of a specific audience if I could provide specific details and the topic was more specific.