Mulheres no mercado gastronômico: uma revisão de literatura acerca da situação das mulheres na cozinha profissional

The act of cooking in a domestic environment has always been considered an activity of women's responsibility. However, when this activity starts to be carried out in a professional scope, it is no longer considered eminently feminine, having the male figure as the protagonist, especially in the condition of recognized chefs. Thinking about the classic conceptions of professional cooking goes back to the kitchen brigade, whose female figure is, on several occasions, considered unprofessional and doesn't have command positions. From a perspective of sexual division of labor, there are spaces in the professional kitchen that are associated with men, on the grounds that they have more strength and are less emotional, while activities considered more delicate are relegated to women, such as cooking cold and the confectionery. In this context, through the present work, we sought to analyze the scientific productions that deal with the theme presented in the last five years, in order to verify the situation of women in the professional kitchen, as well as to identify perspectives for changing the presented situation. Although there is an increase in the female presence in the labor market in the field of gastronomy, situations of inequality persist, reinforcing the sexual division of labor, little female command, naturalization of situations of harassment of women, including reinforced by television programs, as well as the reproduction of social conceptions of masculine and feminine and their respective social roles. Indeed, the situations experienced by women of inequality, harassment and devaluation in professional kitchens remain.