Behind kitchens’ doors
A case study on gendered dynamics in Italian canteens
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12255201 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Rebecca Paraciani (0000-0001-9863-4025, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, corresponding author), Ilaria Pitti (0000-0002-6270-501X, University of Bologna), Alessandro Martelli (0000-0002-8918-9553, University of Bologna) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Volume | 35 |
| Issue | 5 |
| Pages | 1-17 |
| Publication date | 2026-03-10 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Gender Studies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0958-9236 • E-ISSN: 1465-3869 |
| Publisher | Routledge (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/09589236.2026.2642077 |
| OpenAlex | W7134958685 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 25 |
This article examines how gender hierarchies are reproduced and negotiated within Italian institutional catering kitchens. Drawing on ethnographic research conducted in a large catering cooperative in Northern Italy, the study combines three months of participant observation across multiple cooking centres with seventeen semi-structured interviews with kitchen workers and supervisors. The analysis highlights a persistent paradox: although women constitute the majority of the workforce, they remain under-represented in managerial and technical full-time positions. The findings show how everyday organisational practices—including task allocation, scheduling, and performance evaluation—intersect with broader social expectations surrounding domestic care and the moral value of feeding others. These dynamics channel many women into less prestigious and lower-paid roles, while men more frequently occupy supervisory positions linked to production oversight, technical authority, and institutional recognition. By examining spatial organisation, contractual arrangements, and expectations of emotional labour, the article demonstrates how gendered career trajectories are produced within the ostensibly neutral environment of institutional food service
Context (archaeology · Dynamics (music · Field (mathematics · Perspective (graphical · Work (physics · Architecture, Design, and Social History · Culinary Culture and Tourism · Rural development and sustainability
Food and Femininity
Heterogeneity Among Professions and Professionals
Women at Work
Gender and the Glass Ceiling at Work
Can We Generalize from Case Studies
Resistance and Adherence to the Gendered Representations of School Lunch Ladies
Kitchen Drama
From private to public patriarchy
The Essence of Cooking Shows
Simone de Beauvoir
Making change in the kitchen? A study of celebrity cookbooks, culinary personas, and inequality
What Is a Case Study and What Is It Good for
Why emotion work matters
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |