The Not-so-Separate Spheres: Private Chefs Negotiate Professionalism and Intimate Service

The Not-so-Separate Spheres: Private Chefs Negotiate Professionalism and Intimate Service

Ali Hendley (Sociology, UCSB)
Friday, January 21 / 11:00 AM
IHC Seminar Room, 6056 HSSB

While the private and public spheres are often imagined as separate and opposed, feminist scholars have argued that they are inextricably linked. Challenging the line between public and private, work and home, and productive and “nonproductive” labor, intimate labor such as care, domestic, and sex work plays a significant role in today’s expanding service economy.  This paper points to parallels between the work of chefs and other intimate laborers.  Chefs, private chefs in particular, are positioned as well-paid professionals who provide an intimate and respected service, yet also as service workers – laborers who are often devalued.  This paper specifically examines the challenges private chefs sometimes face in garnering respect for their professional services, while catering to clients with whom they often enjoy close relationships.

The short paper that accompanies this talk and paper workshop can be provided by emailing the author at ahendley@umail.ucsb.edu

Sponsored by the IHC’s Food Studies RFG.