‘MasterChef Australia’ ad achieves new low in sexism

If Colbert doesn’t see color, I don’t see gender (and Colbert said much the same thing when interviewing NASCAR driver and Go-Daddy spokesthingy Danica Patrick last night.

According to Huffington Post, people never seem to tire of discussing the role of women versus men in the kitchen. There are books, columns and incessant panel discussions on the subject. While there are some hard truths — such as the fact that the restaurant industry is largely amy.thermometer.05dominated by males — there are obviously many talented, hardworking and dedicated female chefs. That last sentence shouldn’t even have to be written, except for the fact that a new ad for “MasterChef Australia” seems to have set feminism back at least several decades. But it isn’t just females that should be offended by this ad — males are also reduced to silly, out-of-place archetypes as well.

Before we moved to Australia, I told Amy, it’s a lovely place, but it incredibly sexist and racist. Far more than you’d expect. The racism thing got covered by John Oliver last week, when he observed, “Australia turns out to be a sensational place, albeit one of the most sorenne.food.apr.13comfortably racist places I’ve ever been in. They’ve really settled into their intolerance like an old resentful slipper.”

Now one of those shows I refuse to watch because cooking is something to be done, with sons and daughters, and not watched while developing a lard–ass., MasterChef, has taken care of the sexism bit.

“The average woman cooks 1,000 meals per year. Men can’t compete with that.”

“All the top chefs in the world have one thing in common. They’re all men!” So it’s pretty clear from this line and the previous one that the women competing in this show are considered home cooks, whereas men are given the loftier title of “chef.” Also note that the men appear to be barbecuing, because nothing says “I’m a talented chef” like throwing some raw meat on the grill.

“Men are more experimental. A woman can multitask.”

Exact opposite in my family.

And in true Aussie fashion, MasterChef judge Gary Mehigan has promised the new series, Girls v Boys, has not gone down the path of being a reality soap opera that appeals to “bogans.”

This entry was posted in Celebrity, Food Safety Culture and tagged , , , by Douglas Powell. Bookmark the permalink.

About Douglas Powell

A former professor of food safety and the publisher of barfblog.com, Powell is passionate about food, has five daughters, and is an OK goaltender in pickup hockey. Download Doug’s CV here. Dr. Douglas Powell editor, barfblog.com retired professor, food safety 3/289 Annerley Rd Annerley, Queensland 4103 dpowell29@gmail.com 61478222221 I am based in Brisbane, Australia, 15 hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time