Mouthing Off | Sexism, stereotyping and the glass ceiling in restaurants: from Italian mamas to Female Best Chefs to paying the bill
- Ever wondered why there are no female executive chefs in five-star hotels in Hong Kong or on the 50 Best Chefs list?
- It’s time to put an end to this gender bias and bring equality to the restaurant business. Now, who’s paying?
When I wrote about steakhouses being too macho a few weeks ago, I was accused of being a PC clown, a snowflake, a member of the “woke” police trying to do away with the last remnants of patriarchy.
“On that basis, spas and beauty parlours should be more masculine?” one affronted reader asked rhetorically and snidely.
Right, because there are no personal care centres catering specifically for men. If you watch any Korean, Japanese or Hong Kong movie, you’ll see there are plenty of saunas for tattooed men to gather, steam, soak and get massages.
I reckon in districts like Mong Kok and Tsim Sha Tsui, there are more spas aimed at the testosterone clientele than the stereotypical girlie parlour my reader suggests.
Anyway, back to restaurants. I think there are valid questions to be asked, not necessarily on sexism in the hospitality sector, but certainly some of the structural barriers that prevent and discourage women from finding their rightful place in the food industry.
It’s not about being ‘woke’. It’s about fair opportunity, as well as opening our eyes and doing the right thing. I recall chef May Chow at a conference talking about the challenges she faced coming up in restaurants.