Are men senseless?
I've recently started working at a specialty cookie shop on a part-time basis. When I just started, I realized that at the two chain stores that I trained and worked at, there wasn't a single male worker. Now, I don't know about other chains, but these two were purely female bred workers. I resulted in asking my manager why they wouldn't hire males. My young manager cheekily smiled at me and said, "They can't handle it." Then she continued, "They can't multitask." I was a little puzzled, but didn't probe.
This was a month ago.
Now, we have a new manager, and she hired two male workers just over a week ago.
Two days ago, I dropped by the store and talked to one of my colleague. She was working with one of the new male workers, and she whispered to me, "These men have no sense at all" (*rolling her eyes*). I laughed hard, and didn't think much about it. Afterall...I thought she was exaggerating.
Today, I had an overlap shift with one of the new male workers. And, I think I agree with my colleague's statement, only that I'll help her rephrase it: "These men have no sense in the kitchen-food-and-beverage industry at all."
I'm sure the guy I work with is very very nice. But, for the two hours that I worked with him, I observed that yeah, he really couldn't multitask. He was mostly standing at the counter doing customer service. That's great, but our responsibility is much wider than that. There are a lot of behind the scenes preparation, cleaning, washing, financial responsibilities that we do. Another girl and I were doing closing, and it was just a horrendous shift because we had to do all of the next day's pre-scoop from ground zero, and so much cleaning to do. Our specialty-very-expensive cookies don't come out of nowhere, we pre-scoop them and bake them. No pre-scoops, no bakers, no cookies to sell.
Anyway, it got me thinking, is this nature vs. nurture?
Are men by nature senseless in the kitchen?
I would like to think that no, they are not naturally senseless in the kitchen. A woman could be senseless in the kitchen too, if she did not have hands-on experience. I have to admit that being the spoilt child that I was, I never helped much in the kitchen back home in Malaysia. It was not until I came here that I had to learn cooking, and realized there's so much preparation and cleaning - not just the cooking process. When I first started a summer job last year in the food and beverage industry, I was senseless too - honestly, I didn't know what to do! I didn't even know how to hold a knife properly! But, I learnt, and in time, improved. So, I believe that these stereotypes of 'men are senseless in the kitchen' are culturally constructed, and a man can in time and experience be equally as good as a woman in the kitchen.
Well, this is my deduction, but perhaps it is true that some men really can't handle the kitchen stuff and multitasking. But, I find that men my generation are becoming more competent than their predecessors in the kitchen. I have quite a few male friends who are more competent than I am in their cooking skills, and I guess I have to give them credit - they have good sense in the kitchen!
This was a month ago.
Now, we have a new manager, and she hired two male workers just over a week ago.
Two days ago, I dropped by the store and talked to one of my colleague. She was working with one of the new male workers, and she whispered to me, "These men have no sense at all" (*rolling her eyes*). I laughed hard, and didn't think much about it. Afterall...I thought she was exaggerating.
Today, I had an overlap shift with one of the new male workers. And, I think I agree with my colleague's statement, only that I'll help her rephrase it: "These men have no sense in the kitchen-food-and-beverage industry at all."
I'm sure the guy I work with is very very nice. But, for the two hours that I worked with him, I observed that yeah, he really couldn't multitask. He was mostly standing at the counter doing customer service. That's great, but our responsibility is much wider than that. There are a lot of behind the scenes preparation, cleaning, washing, financial responsibilities that we do. Another girl and I were doing closing, and it was just a horrendous shift because we had to do all of the next day's pre-scoop from ground zero, and so much cleaning to do. Our specialty-very-expensive cookies don't come out of nowhere, we pre-scoop them and bake them. No pre-scoops, no bakers, no cookies to sell.
Anyway, it got me thinking, is this nature vs. nurture?
Are men by nature senseless in the kitchen?
I would like to think that no, they are not naturally senseless in the kitchen. A woman could be senseless in the kitchen too, if she did not have hands-on experience. I have to admit that being the spoilt child that I was, I never helped much in the kitchen back home in Malaysia. It was not until I came here that I had to learn cooking, and realized there's so much preparation and cleaning - not just the cooking process. When I first started a summer job last year in the food and beverage industry, I was senseless too - honestly, I didn't know what to do! I didn't even know how to hold a knife properly! But, I learnt, and in time, improved. So, I believe that these stereotypes of 'men are senseless in the kitchen' are culturally constructed, and a man can in time and experience be equally as good as a woman in the kitchen.
Well, this is my deduction, but perhaps it is true that some men really can't handle the kitchen stuff and multitasking. But, I find that men my generation are becoming more competent than their predecessors in the kitchen. I have quite a few male friends who are more competent than I am in their cooking skills, and I guess I have to give them credit - they have good sense in the kitchen!
posted by Grace at 9/21/2005 11:28:00 PM
1 Comments:
Haha, yes I laugh when I read this post! We men can be good in the kitchen, but like you said it comes with experience. There are certainly some awesome male chef's out there!
But I think you have touched on an important point too. We men do think differently than women. Have you ever noticed how people watch TV? It is interesting. In my experience, many women will turn on the TV and talk on the phone at the same time -- half listening to both. But have you noticed that if a guy is watching the football game he is often not having really meaningful conversations and those conversations that do pop up usually revolve around the game or the players? He is either watching the game or talking to his friend, but not both. Perhaps women are better multitaskers than we men.
I'm not trying to say here that either trait is better, rather that we have different ways of getting things done. Each method can be learned, but I think some methods come more easily to men and others to women. And as always certain traits lend themselves better to certain things. Perhaps that's why one often finds more men in some vocations and more women in others.
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