There are few women in the Chinese kitchen.
When it comes to chefs, people often subconsciously think of men. Obviously, I can accept housewives cooking at home and my mother or grandmother cooking delicious food, but when I hear the word "female chef" outside, I will be surprised. This makes people feel illogical but real.
How rare are women in the world of chefs? According to the Survey Report of Chef Career Development in 20 15, only 3.6% of chefs in China are women. In Chinese hot dishes, the proportion of women will be reduced by more than half. Even casually ask the male chefs, "Are there any female chefs around you?" Almost all the answers are negative.
Chef is probably one of the most masculine industries. On the one hand, it may be related to the special nature of the chef's work-high labor intensity, fast pace, huge physical consumption and certain danger. Especially Chinese food that emphasizes "heavy cooking" is more likely to burn and burn.
On the other hand, the working environment of the kitchen is full of "male hegemony", which also requires employees to have "masculinity". In order to integrate into the kitchen, many female chefs have to "transform themselves" by means of fitness, cutting short hair and picking up obscene jokes. Even so, the turnover rate of female chefs is much higher than that of men of the same age.
Why are there so few women in Chinese chefs?
There is such a hot topic on Zhihu.com. Under the topic, many kitchen friends came out to answer, and there are four reasons:
1, historical issues
Cooking is easily regarded as a feminine activity in history, so male professional chefs will deliberately distinguish their profession from family cooking to reflect their professional standards and social status.
2. The profession itself is not popular with women.
Cooking is a physical activity, especially Chinese food. The kitchen utensils are generally heavy, and the knife skills and cooking techniques are dangerous to some extent. The heavy cooking fumes in Chinese food kitchens have a certain impact on the health of chefs.
3. The special responsibility given to women by society.
Kitchen work requires long hours and irregular work, but today's social environment still requires women to pay more for their families, which makes it difficult for female chefs to find a balance between work and family.
4. The long-term inherent environmental atmosphere is unpopular with women.
Because the kitchen is dominated by male chefs for a long time, and the working environment is more suitable for men, female chefs may have various inconveniences in their work, and even suffer from sexual harassment or gender discrimination.
Looking at all the reasons, it is not difficult to find that the reason why women are rarely seen in Chinese kitchens is based on the fact that women are more suitable for delicate, soft and relaxed work.
However, apart from the fact that the position of chef itself is unpopular with women, once a woman chooses to be a chef, other reasons have become the threshold for her influence on the kitchen road.
Female chef sues catering enterprises.
In August, 20 15, Gao Xiao (pseudonym), a female chef, sued Guangdong Huishijia Economic Development Co., Ltd. because of gender discrimination. It was not until September, 20 16 that the court supported her request for a written apology, which became the first case of gender discrimination in employment in China.
On the premise of obtaining the chef qualification certificate, Gao Xiao was repeatedly rejected by the employer on the grounds of gender. She was deeply disappointed and frustrated, and was diagnosed as a two-way affective disorder by the hospital. After more than a year of struggle, Gao Xiao won an apology from the employer. (Click on the blue font to review: the restaurant refused to use a female chef and was taken to court by the girl. The result was unexpected! (the first case in China))
This is undoubtedly a great progress in the issue of "gender discrimination of chefs", at least making it impossible for employers to use gender as a recruitment standard.
But perhaps this kind of discrimination has just changed from the surface to the hidden rules. Because this stereotype that women "just shouldn't work in the lampblack, just can't turn over the pot, just can't do manual work …" still affects women's choice of the position of chef.
On the day of the court session, Gao Xiao took a simple piece of paper and wrote "I want to be a chef" in front of the court.
"He 1.8 meters high, and I lost when I was less than 1.6 meters."
Jiang Lulu, a 90-year-old chef who became a hit in Tip of the Tongue 3, is a female chef. She has never seen gender discrimination among her peers, but in cooking school, she has seen more parents who prevent her daughter from learning to cook.
"Being a chef is very tired and hard! How can you have so much energy for a girl's family! " "Are you sure you can't do it? Why don't you choose something easy? You will regret it then! " ……
Jiang lulu
Zhang Xiaonuo, the female chef of Teppanyaki, also acquiesced in the situation that men are dominant in the kitchen after Chinese food: "I think maybe it's because of different circles, and maybe there are really many men in the kitchen after Chinese food. Because they think that girls are weak, physically weak, and the speed of work is not fast, and they often sweat in summer, women will be harder. "
"The most important thing is that if you cook, you should surround the stove, and at the peak of meals, you should upset the pot for a long time and frequently. Even women can't bear such a big load, and there is indeed a gender difference. Therefore, hotels generally don't want to use girls too much. "
"In the kitchen, girls with careless personality are okay and popular, and they can do whatever they are assigned, but it is inevitable that some girls will sometimes be a little melodramatic and play a little temper. Probably this is why male chefs don't like to cooperate with girls. "
Zhang xiaonuo
Hu Mia, a female chef who won high praise in Zhihu, said in her reply: "As for the gender of chefs, it seems to me to be a conceptual problem. The present situation is that male chefs are the majority, and girls are mixed at home, which is not suitable for many people. I remember when I just told my dad that I was going to be a chef, he reacted strongly! There are many reasons for opposition, one of which is,' People are hanging around with bare arms in summer. What are you like in there!' "
Hu Mia's answer on Zhihu
Although it is said that this is a kind of protection for girls, isn't it a prejudice to take gender as a reason?
Before becoming a pastry chef, Jiang Lulu's main direction was actually hot dishes. What does hot food in Chinese kitchen mean? It is the physical work that women are not qualified for in people's impression, especially the pot that needs to be cooked.
Stir-frying sand is a basic skill that cooks practice every day. Jiang Lulu still remembers that at school, there was a big boy with a height of 1.8 meters, who asked to compete with himself who was less than 1.6 meters. As a result, the boy lost!
"As long as you are a chef, you need physical strength, but it is not necessarily impossible for women to work hard. Choosing to be a chef means that you have enough physical strength, so the girl who is a chef will not be weak. " Even if you don't cook hot dishes now, Jiang Lulu, as a pastry chef, often has to carry dozens of kilograms of flour by himself.
Jiang lulu
Hu Mia, a kitchen friend, also shared her physical strength appreciation in Zhihu: "I have been in the business for three years, and I have gained 20 Jin, all of which are muscles. At the beginning, I couldn't push the incubator, and I couldn't move a few watermelons. Many manual jobs had to be shamefully sold for help. Later, I tried to practice my physical strength, and all manual jobs took the initiative to do it. After three years, at least some boys could move it, and I was able to get rid of it by blushing and trying hard."
So, girls can't do manual labor? Stop talking about such ridiculous words. Both men and women, as long as they choose the road of cooking, need to accept high-intensity workload and great physical consumption; No matter what job or interest you face, you need to do your best to pay your efforts and enthusiasm in order to reap the rewards.
Therefore, whether it is soft or rigid, it can be a woman. This is a choice, not a nature.
Hu Mia's answer on Zhihu
"In this environment, it is normal to be teased by language."
But in addition to this "to be protected" obstacle, there are also those righteous "injuries" under prejudice, which is the most unbearable for female chefs.
Jiang Xun, a female chef who studied cooking in Bo Gu, felt this kind of injury the most, even though she was in French advanced cooking school.
"I dare not talk nonsense about China, but even in France, a country where higher education is popular and feminist revolution has taken place, there are still very few Chefs who really complete higher education in the kitchen. Most apprentices have been in the kitchen since they were teenagers, lacking opportunities to get along with the opposite sex, and encountering female colleagues who are not ugly. Yellow jokes and occasional flirting tricks on junior high school boys can also be seen in Chefs who are in their teens. Forget a girl with a bigger heart. If she is small-minded and brings her own chastity archway into the kitchen, it is really no joke. At least half of the male chef in European kitchens will go to the United States, and I am afraid they will be jailed for several years for sexual harassment. "
She said: "What really drives female chefs out of the kitchen is the rigid patriarchal social ideology caused by lack of education." This is precisely the most deep-rooted reason why gender discrimination is popular.
French chefs also flirt with girls.
(The picture has nothing to do with this article)
In addition, women's low self-esteem also invisibly strengthens this "patriarchal social ideology".
"Worst of all, even between women who work in the kitchen, there are often wonderful dog blood dramas. These girls, who are usually very unyielding and think that they are no worse than their colleagues of the opposite sex, often take a breath to prove themselves from the moment they enter the kitchen. They try to make themselves similar to their colleagues of the opposite sex, transform themselves into very masculine, and flaunt that they are not afraid of hardship, fatigue, heavy pots, heavy knives and tears, and they are highly competitive. I am very afraid of dealing with such female colleagues. As women, when a whole disadvantaged group encounters unfair treatment, they usually not only don't realize that she needs to help her same sex fight for equal rights, but I am afraid that they will compete with each other and fall into trouble, eager to get rid of their female weakness. " Jiang Xun added.
In the kitchen in France, some female chefs will not help them either.
(The picture has nothing to do with this article)
Why can't the kitchen accept women?
Of all the chefs in China, only 3.6% are women. Do only 3.6% girls really want to be chefs? Or has it always created an environment that makes it difficult for women to survive and develop in the chef industry?
Why should we accept these prejudices silently? Why can't when women show interest in cooking, no one will say, "Just have fun, don't take it as a career, girls can't do it!"
Why can't women no longer have to pray secretly when they enter the all-male kitchen: "I hope this is a good kitchen and can respect me." In fact, many female chefs hope that when they are told that they are women after cooking a delicious food, they don't have to face those stupid and ridiculous faces: "Wow! Actually a female chef! " ……
In fact, many female chefs are eager to stop facing some colored glasses.
In fact, those ridiculous situations that restrict people on the grounds of gender should not have existed and happened. I only hope that in the future, everyone's success or failure is not because of gender, but because of hard work and dedication; All the stumbling blocks on the road of chasing dreams will no longer have gender factors.
As Liu Pingping, a famous chef of western food, said in an interview:
"A chef is a job that requires a combination of mental and physical labor. There is no shortcut. Only by repeated attempts can we achieve the ideal requirements. The criterion for assessing whether a person can become a chef is never gender, but only their ability and attitude. "
At the same time, she also told reporters that in her opinion, the reason why women are not suitable for the kitchen is because in the past, kitchen equipment was really less and the environment was poor, and many jobs required better physical strength. "But today, with the introduction of various equipment, the demand for physical strength in the kitchen is also declining, especially in the western food and dim sum department. Girls also have their own advantages in many aspects, such as being more careful and setting more exquisite. "
Liu Pingping, Executive Deputy Chef of Park Hyatt Hangzhou
Therefore, don't say how bad and hard the kitchen environment is, and it is not suitable for women. With the development of technology and catering industry, more women may be needed in the kitchen.
The unique characteristics of women may bring more richness and possibilities to catering.
Is the kitchen after Chinese food really not suitable for girls?
For this situation,
What do the female chefs think?
Male chefs,
What do you think?
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Reporter: Zhang Meixian, this article is an original article of Red Kitchen. Reprinting without permission is prohibited!
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