This article contains spoilers for the second series of The Bear. Michelin-starred chef Marco Pierre White said in 2019: “What's really good for a man is [in professional kitchens is] “Men are less emotional and don't take things personally,” he says, adding that men also value women for having a better sense of smell and being more consistent and punctual, but that “men can handle the pressure better when they're busy.”
I thought a lot about this phrase while researching and writing my book, Hysterical: Busting the Myths of Gendered Emotions, about how the long history of women being perceived as “emotional” has put them at a disadvantage and excluded them from certain spheres.
From constructing to destroying the concept of gender
When it comes to the realm of top-notch kitchens, these real-world issues are reflected in the hit series “The Bear.” Now in its third season, the show follows a team of unconventional cooks at a Chicago sandwich shop as they transform the place under the vision of Carmen “Carmie” Belzatto (Jeremy Allen White).
After leaving a thriving career in Michelin-starred kitchens, Carmy returns to Chicago after his brother commits suicide. Driven by his ambition to reach new heights, Carmy and his equally passionate sous-chef, Sydney Adam (Ayo Edebiri), take the business from a sandwich shop to a fine dining restaurant.
As The Bear shows, cooking at home has traditionally been a woman's domain, yet there are fewer women than men at the top levels of professional kitchens.
An analysis of more than 2,286 Michelin-starred restaurants across more than 16 countries in 2022 found that only around 6% of the world's top kitchens are led by women. In March 2024, Adejoke Bakare became the first black woman in the UK and the second in the world to receive a Michelin star for her restaurant, Chishuru.
Bear's passion for culinary artistry frequently brings up the names of real-world kitchens that Carmie and Sydney aspire to emulate, but these kitchens are all led by men: two-star Michelin chef Daniel Boulud, one-star Michelin chef Dave Veran of Passe Joli, three-star Michelin chef René Redzepi of the world-famous Noma, and the only American chef to have achieved three stars at two different restaurants, Thomas Keller of The French Laundry.
The show features Andrea Terry, a female chef who Bear's staff look up to, but she is a fictional character and is played by British actress Olivia Colman.
This is unfortunate, but the show's story calls into question Pierre White's ideas about the emotional stereotypes of men and women in the kitchen.
Head chef Carmie spends a lot of time in his head. Not only does he have trouble letting go of his ego in the kitchen, but he also crumbles when faced with pressure or grief. We gradually see that his leadership style is not very collaborative. For example, he makes management decisions without consulting Sydney.
On the other hand, there are women who are able to control their emotions and overcome difficult situations.
Carmie's sister, Natalie, known as “Sugar”, is pregnant, dealing with the same grief and trauma as Carmie. Sugar is portrayed as someone who must be strong enough to deal with an alcoholic mother, someone who manages The Bear's projects, and a practical character in contrast to Carmie's highly creative nature.
On Ever, Andrea Terry is a low-key presence, a calm leader with an authoritative presence behind the scenes. In seasons two and three, she appears on screen for less than ten minutes. But in that brief time, she challenges misconceptions about what a good leader should be with her calm firmness and compassionate communication.
Teri sees the good in people, whether it's when she shares her failure stories with Bear's self-doubting manager, Richard “Richie” Jerimovich (Ebon Moss-Bachrach), or when she sees Carmie's creative side and gives him the approval he craves, and she's able to do this while never compromising on quality and expecting the best from her staff.
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The end of season two stood out to me as a perfect example of how gendered emotional stereotypes have become outdated, especially in professional kitchens. As Carmie begins to have a panic attack and become disoriented after locking herself in the walk-in fridge, we see Sydney decisively manage the pressure and keep things running smoothly on Bear's opening night, despite her inexperience as the person in charge.
She is often paired with Carmie, who has a high-strung, relentless energy, and in season three she really comes into her own as the one who always stays calm and focused under pressure.
Emotional gender stereotypes still influence how women and men are treated in the workplace and what leadership opportunities look like — comments like Marco Pierre White's are a major obstacle to the movement towards gender equality — but we're starting to see these emotional norms challenged on screen.
“The Bear” is a wildly popular show that relied on common gender-based emotional stereotypes in its first two seasons, but as season three unfolds, we see that these gender-based norms are overly generalized.
The problem in professional kitchens is not the expression of emotion, but how it is channeled, creating a leadership model that is not caring or supportive. Women can handle the pressure and heat of a professional kitchen just as well. The dichotomy of the tenacious, tough male chef and the emotional female chef is just a myth.
This article for The Conversation is written by Pragya Agarwal, Visiting Professor in Social Inequality and Injustice at Loughborough University.
