CityView Magazine

30 | March/April 2015 Jelisa conveyed, "Women period are overlooked especially in corporate America so we have to put a little extra into everything we do." Seeing as two women have won the title of the TV show Top Chef on Bravo, these Fayetteville chefs explained how that number is truly a reflection of the cook- ing industry, which is dominated by males. Chef Parker believes women have to work harder to get to the top spot, but "it is changing, although I be- lieve women still have to work harder. Once a chef reaches the highest level, male or female, you get the respect to be that top chef. You will be bullied and challenged by both sexes, it's competitive and vicious to get where you want to be." In the cuisine industry, it seems as if there is an initial barrier that holds women down, but once they break the boundaries, there is no holding them back from getting to the highest and most respected posi- tion. Melanie elaborated, "It is a very competitive industry. If you work hard you can take it. It's all about how much you want it." Although at a certain skill level, the playing field seems even, an interesting question to moot is: if we assume in America that the woman is the one that is home cooking meals for the family, why are the majority of head chefs male? Chef Parker gave an eloquent response, "It goes way back in history when men were the primary breadwinners. ey were hunters and gatherers. e male has always, naturally, taken over that leadership role, so men oen do become fantastic chefs. Women are the caring ones. It's not that we aren't natural leaders; it's just that our way of doing things is different. In the recent decade, food has become a rock star, something to celebrate. e profession has trans- gressed from something an everyday housewife used to do, but now it is inspiring women across the globe to say to themselves, 'Hey, I can really do this!"' Women want to empower themselves so they want to be in a commercial kitchen, not a home kitchen anymore. Parker has hope that one day the playing field will be even for females and males at all levels, which is essentially the defini- tion of feminism, both entry level and the best of the best. Once the prejudices that come with being a female is overcome, the industry will rely only on the skill of the chef – no matter what their sex. Quite obvious to everyone, the male and female brains work differently, especially so when it comes to cooking. What makes their cooking different is the way both sexes approach the techniques and skill. A person can view cooking as a science, as if they are engineering something with a set of pre- cise instructions, following the rules of the recipe and the conditions precisely and repeatedly, inch by inch or dollop by dollop, so the results should GENIQUE FREEMAN: Former "Worst Cook" in Fayetteville Our city's own Genique Freeman had a successful run on the most recent season of the Food Network series, Worst Cooks in America. Genique placed second and was paired with celebrity chef Tyler Florence. Unbeknownst to her, a college friend sent her information in to the Food Network, based on the fact that one time in college she set a microwave on fire and was notorious for being a bad cook. Genique took the opportunity to go on the show, because she wanted to find a healthier lifestyle and truly wanted to learn how to cook well. "Tyler taught me how to cook and incorporate more vegetables into my diet as well as be open minded to tasting things that I haven't tried before to extend my pallet." Genique continued, "Now, my favorite things to cook are roasted vegetables." But don't expect her to throw on an apron and turn her hobby into a career. Genique is a woman in business herself. She is an esthetician who owns and operates G'nique's Spa Services in Haymount. Photo courtesy of The Food Netwok

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