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It's Always a

Gender Thing

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The Evolution of Cooking:

From nourishment to Social Fulfilment

 

It was around 12:30 on a Friday afternoon, but it felt like it was only just early morning in Florencia Frederica and Egbert Chandra's city apartment. It's like the type of mornings where you've overslept, ultimately putting a hold on all the weekend chores for the day; where you've dragged yourself out of bed only to splay yourself over the couch.

 

Chandra happened to be making a traditional Indonesian beef stew, which was simmering behind in the kitchen – a chore that didn't get missed.

 

"I've been cooking at work, so when you come home, you don't feel like seeing any more food or being in the kitchen," Frederica said when I asked her if she cooked.

 

Twenty-year-old Frederica has only just come home several hours ago from a late shift at Surry Hills' Nomad. And from the look on her face, this hasn't been her only late one this week.

 

Women have always taken up the cooking responsibilities in the home since the beginning of time, literally, with the idea of hunters and gatherers. Cooking and gender go together like a sausage sizzle and a Bunnings Warehouse: it doesn't make much sense when examined in detail, but we accept it anyway.

 

It's different in a commercial kitchen. Men are outnumbering women in the culinary industry.

 

 

 

 

 

A submission was made by the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry earlier this year on gender segregation in the workplace, suggesting quotas as a way to attract more women into male-dominated industries and vice-versa.

 

Chefs were one out of the ten occupations listed in the submission that is expected to have the most significant increase of new jobs up to the year 2020.

 

"One of the things I would say though is that we currently have an incredible shortage of chefs in part of Sydney, even, where we've got high levels of tourism where we really need to be having more chefs," said Alana Matheson, deputy director of Workplace Relations at the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

 

More chefs and more women chefs, in particular.

 

If cooking has long been viewed as a female activity, why are women underrepresented in commercial kitchens?

 

Owner of Miam Patisserie, Meylissa Yusuf, shares a few reasons as to why head chefs and sous chefs are usually male.

 

"It's because the way we think is very different. We're women. We often think with our hearts. Whereas in the kitchen with a lot of pressure, with a lot of demands, you need to think with your head, not your heart," she said.

 

Yusuf credits their "mental strength" as the reason why most male chefs can excel further than their female counterparts.

 

Physical strength plays a role, too. Everyone in the industry knows Gordon Ramsay's lashes and throwing of utensils aren't just good television; it's real life.

 

"I had friends who dropped out because of the hardness of the kitchen. They just said, ‘I'm done.' They want a calmer environment," shared Frederica. She goes on to say that some see the pressure as an efficient way to improve one's skills.

 

Chandra cut her off: "But she's strong." And he patted her knee.

 

It's also the strenuously long hours, continually standing on both feet and tireless working on weekends. A chef's schedule is not the most ideal for women who are looking to start a family, especially when they are still considered the rock of the household.

 

Sarah Oxborough, a TAFE teacher on Retail Baking, resonates deeply with the struggle of taking time out to have a family while still maintaining a career in the industry.

 

"Obviously, that's one thing that changes the balance. I stopped my career twice to have kids and go on maternity level, which my husband didn't have to do, and that slows a woman's career down," she said.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As Yusuf cleaned her section spotlessly and tucked her bright yellow KitchenAid mixer away, it's hard to see women not taken as seriously as her male equivalent in the professional realm.

 

At home, however, is a different story.

 

Sandra Clark, academic director at Kenvale College of Tourism & Hospitality Management, found cooking is becoming less of a gendered activity in Australian households.

 

"Men are starting to step up to the plate, and some couples I interviewed said, ‘whoever walked in the door first was the person who started cooking the meal,'" she said.

 

According to Gary Mortimer, an active researcher on food retailing and shopping behaviour, we are seeing more advertising appeals of men cooking meals to their family.

 

"We've seen a real shift by marketers and brands to recognise that cooking and healthy eating is no longer just a female-gendered activity," he explained. "This is certainly more pronounced with young couples, whereas your Baby Boomers and Gen X tend to align to a very traditional role of mum cooks and dad works."

 

Although the recent Census data showed no specific numbers about how much time Australians spend on cooking, it does show how much time they do domestic activities, which does include cooking.

 

The 2016 Census found that there is a considerable difference among men aged 20-24 who are living at home compared to those who are living away from home. Those living at home spent an average of three hours and 15 minutes, while those living away from home spend five hours and 25 minutes.

 

These figures are still small compared to how much women do.

 

For Minna Yumol, she is still disadvantaged by the amount of unpaid housework she does despite sharing a place with her husband, Marc.

 

"Have you had anything to eat yet?" was Minna's first words to me after the usual exchange of hellos and how are yous. The millennial couple had just finished up dinner and were about to do some washing up.

 

The Yumols said that sharing household responsibilities, mainly cooking, is much different compared to living at home.

 

While Minna had lived in their townhouse for a few months on her own before they got married, Marc admitted that it's "a little bit different", as he was living with his parents before.

 

"His mum is a great cook, so he has no need to learn," Minna said.

 

Cooking and grocery shopping is no longer considered to be a gendered, female task; "It's just a task that needs to be completed," said Mortimer.

 

"It's certainly more pronounced for younger couples, where more than ever before both women and men are completing tertiary education, they're getting great careers, they're focused on paying back HECS-debt and establishing themselves before they fall into that traditional role of family – mum and dad and two-and-a-half kids."

If cooking has long been viewed as a female activity, why are women underrepresented in commercial kitchens?
"Men are starting to step up to the plate, and some couples I interviewed said, ‘whoever walked in the door first was the person who started cooking the meal.'" - Sandra Clark, academic advisor of Kenvale College
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