Kegiatan memasak di dapur tradisional (area domestik) sering kali dilekatkan pada diri perempuan dan dimaknai sebagai kewajiban sekaligus bentuk pelayanan perempuan kepada keluarga, pasangan, anak-anak, bahkan orang-orang lain yang berada di dekat kehidupan si perempuan. Dengan kata lain, memasak di ruang domestik merupakan pekerjaan tidak terdefinisi. Namun ketika kegiatan memasak beralih ke ruang publik, berubah menjadi sebuah profesi, dengan area kerja yang disebut dapur profesional. Orang-orang yang bekerja di dapur tradisional diberi predikat chef profesional. Ironisnya, perempuan yang sejak berabad-abad lalu telah lekat dengan kegiatan memasak, justru sulit untuk memasuki apalagi menguasai dapur profesional yang sangat dikuasi dan didominasi laki-laki, mulai dari bidang ilmunya (tata boga) hingga industrinya. Sebagai sebuah keterampilan, memasak sejatinya adalah kegiatan yang dapat dilakukan oleh siapa saja, apa pun gendernya. Pada kenyataannya, kegiatan memasak baik di dapur tradisional maupun dapur profesional, selalu menempatkan perempuan pada posisi yang marginal dan tersubordinasi. Untuk mempelajari mengapa perempuan, yang kerap disebut sebagai “ratunya dapur tradisional”, justru sulit menguasai dan mendominasi dapur profesional. Untuk itu, kami membedah sejumlah penelitian terdahulu yang banyak menganalisis mengenai kehidupan kerja perempuan chef, termasuk berbagai bentuk ketidasetaraan gender di tempat kerja, yakni dapur profesional.   

---

Cooking activities in traditional kitchen or in domestic area—which are always supposed to be related to women—are interpreted as obligation as well as a form of women's service to their families, spouses, children, and even other people who are close to women's life. In other words, cooking in the domestic area is an undefined job. Regardless of the fact, when cooking activities shifted to public space, it turned into a professional job, a work area which was later called as professional kitchen. People who work in such a professional kitchen are given the title of professional chef. Ironically, such a professional kitchen, that often thought to be easily controlled by women—who for centuries has always been related to cooking activities—is actually controlled and dominated by men, starting from its academic field (tata boga) to the industry. As a skill, cooking is actually an activity that can be performed by anyone, regardless of gender, not just women. In reality, cooking activities, both in traditional and professional kitchens, always place women in marginal and subordinate position. To learn why women, who are often considered as “the queen of traditional kitchen”, are difficult to control and dominate professional kitchens, we examine a number of previous studies that have analyzed the professional life of female chefs, including various forms of gender inequality in the workplace of chefs or the professional kitchen.