Sex and Gender in Restaurant

Introduction

Regardless of the impressive inroads that women have made in the labor market, gender differences have widely been manifested at work place. For the past decades, Australian Restaurants have undergone manifold and rapid transformation in enhancing gender equality. Flower Drum located in Melbourne is a perfect example of a restaurant that has adopted a work structure and programs that address the special needs of men and women. In brief, Flower Drum is a known restaurant that excels in delivering the best standards of Asian and Chinese Cuisine (City of Melbourne 2013, p1). The restaurant has a superb reputation of providing best services that attract many clients from Melbourne. The management has diligently worked hard to reduce social exclusion or management bias on women. However, most men have gained the most increase of power in management positions while most women rank the highest in other duties such as serving the guests. In modern times, there have been contentious issues about sex and gender at work place. Studies show that, discrimination against women is revealed during recruitment where male candidates are most preferred to carry out managerial tasks (Jack &Ali 2010, p33). In most interviews, women are asked more questions about their personal lives such as pregnancy and family status just to name a few. Sometimes they are forced to lie so that they can gain any offer given to them. Jack and Ali continue to argue that sex and gender differences are also revealed in earnings where men receive more earnings than women. Despite the differences of sex and gender that are still observed in Australia, there are currently lower than they were twenty years ago. To fully understand this subject, this research investigated how Flower drum restaurant operates and displays their understanding of sex and gender. For the past years, this restaurant has had a superb reputation of providing the best services to its guests. The restaurant has grown tremendously both in sales and revenues. Of all the benefits that organization accrues from converting first clients to frequent and potential clients, work performance has been their greatest advantage. In this regard, this paper is aimed at presenting a research project on how gender and power is reflected in Flower drum. The report includes a brief analysis of how the restaurant operates and the measures it use to attract male and female clients.

Aim

The goal of the study is to observe social behaviours and surrounding Flower drum restaurant. The study will be conducted on the basis that, sex and gender differences are mostly reflected in most restaurants where men are more given the managerial tasks than women mainly because they have sufficient knowledge about principles, development, and implementation strategies in leadership. This study aims to evaluate how sex and gender is reflected in Flower drum restaurant. In this case, this research will access who mostly carry out managerial tasks, how guests are served, and who mostly serve the guests. In brief, this research sets out to achieve how gender and power is reflected in Flower drum restaurant.

Methods

In order to achieve the intended results or findings in the study, this research utilized observation method. This report aimed to observe how gender and power is reflected in Flower Drum restaurant. In this case, this research used practical observation and collected data from this technique. To gather valid results, I visited Flower Drum to study its customs and practices and observe gender lens. The purpose of this was to observe people and thereafter make critical assumptions about the meaning of their gender actions and behaviours. My visit to this restaurant was rewarding as I had a good opportunity to observe how waiters and waitress welcome guests, serve their meals, and how guests respond to the services given to them. Still, this research made a practical observation of how men and women approach and respond to various duties in the restaurant. Additionally, this research observed the social behaviour and conduct of restaurant owners, servers, and managers. This created a strong ground to understand how gender and power is reflected in this setting. All these were taken into consideration to compile the final results and findings of how gender and power is reflected in this social setting.

To gather valid result, this research preferred to record what was going on in the restaurant. The observed session was part of the journey to evaluate how gender and power is reflected in this setting. This research intended to use technology as a tool to compile data from the field. At this point, the observation made was recorded in the video camera to make the session more impactful to those who are not familiar with the place. While carrying out the research, I spent some time grounding the session through which I took some time observing the social behaviour and surroundings to minimize distractions when observing, recording, and taking notes. Thirdly, to gather more facts about the social behaviour and surrounding of this social setting, I befriended one of the managers in that restaurant to gather information about how it operates. At this point, I spent more time building up trust, friendship, and inquiring about the services that the restaurant offers. Prior to visiting the restaurant, I had informed the manager that I will be visiting the restaurant and asked him in letter whether I can gather facts and information about the restaurant through practical observation and explained the motives of the research. Prior to visiting the restaurant, I explained to the management of the goals and objectives that the research intended to achieve and explained that this restaurant was the best choice since it is well-known and ranked among the best restaurants in Melbourne.

Results

My visit to Flower Drum was incredible as I had a chance to observe and note the social behaviours and its surrounding. While in the restaurant, I noted that most clients were young couples. As I was getting in, I noted that most ladies served the guests while most men were managers or supervisors. After sitting for about five minutes, I ordered a meal that enabled me to stay there for a while observing the differences in sex and gender. The first thing I noted was that, men were first given the menu check to order the meals and later women. Most waiters and waitress took the order from the men and respect was given to them accordingly. The second thing I noted was that, most women opted for healthier menu option while most men asked for heavy meals. At this point, I made an observation that men eat more than women in that the latter are more concerned with living a healthy lifestyle and maintaining shape. Thirdly, I noted that most women wanted to stay somewhere comfortable while men looked for somewhere to show off. Fourthly, I noted that most men were the managers or supervisors who are obliged to manage the restaurant.

In examining the perspectives of managers and HR specialists, this research found that men represent the highest percentage in these positions. Within this restaurant, this research found that most men managed women who are mostly involved in various duties such as cleaning, preparing the meals, and serving the guests. Although the restaurant observed gender equality to operate effectively, this research found that some roles were set for men while other for women. While in the field, this research noted that most women welcomed the guests and served meals while men were security guards, cashiers, managers, or supervisors. From this analysis, the findings indicated that sex and gender in Flower Drum is best reflected in line of roles and responsibilities. Men are more assigned managerial tasks than women. Previous studies have been conducted in regard to this subject. In his seminal research, Coles (2008, p233) found that emotional and supervision support account for sex and gender differences at work place. His research claimed that, most organizations regard females as objects of parental control and supervision while males are significantly perceived as decision makers and agents of change. Other researchers continue to outline that, most organizations perceive women as homemakers and thus assumes that an organization may not perform well if assigned the assigned duties (Crompton 2006, p30). This explains why women are asked more personal questions during the recruitment process such as their family status. These activities are a clear indication of how gender and sex is reflected in the workplace. Most men are given the managerial tasks with the assumption that they are the best decision makers and have a strong influence in their leadership. However, women are seen as objects of supervision and home makers.

This research project found that, men were first given the menu check with the assumption that men are the one to pay for the bill. In response to this, Casey (2007, p18) argues that men are often seen as the providers of their family. The important mechanism that influences men to be first given the menu check is the concept of self that emerges through the process of role taking. The concept of self is the process through, which an individual judge others in terms of role-taking, social status, and financial status. Although women have emerged in the labour market, the society views men as the main providers of the family. Still, there have been misconceptions that men earn more than women do and this explains why men are given the first priorities to view the menu check and order meals that best suit their budget. The results indicated that women opt for healthier menu option than men. This result aligns with a study conducted by Gordon (2006, p10) explains how the modern society encourages women to keep shape and live a healthy lifestyle. With this, most women are opting for healthier diets to keep the shape while men are opting for heavy meals to build muscles.

This research found that Flower drum is one of the best restaurants in Melbourne that provide friendly and efficient services to its client without sacrificing price and quality. Still, the management diligently works hard to provide the best services that enhance the dining experience of clients. After interacting with one of the managers in the hotel, I found out that Flower drum invest heavily in the recruitment process. From my observation, I found out that the restaurant has competent employees who work hard to deliver the best services to their clients. With this, the company continues to leverage on work experiences and skills. Further, this research noted that the restaurant is currently managed by a man who does his best to enhance the best in the restaurant. For the past years, most directors have been men who work hard to retain the positive image of the restaurant. Men have had more power in the management than women who are mostly involved in less paying duties such as serving or welcoming the guests. A research by Natalier (2003, p255) indicates that, most organizations believe that men have a sense of control than women do. Thus, many organizations prefer recruiting men in managerial tasks to women.

As previously mentioned, Flower drum’s mission is to excel in the standards of Asian and Chinese Cuisine. With this, this research has observed that the restaurant observes the culture of Asian and Chinese community where men are given more power in management than women (Davison 2007, p10). Although Flower Drum has excelled in promoting gender equality, this research found out that sex and gender differences is most reflected in the roles and duties assigned to different workers. As mentioned earlier, most men are in managerial positions while women are supervised.

Conclusion

From the ongoing discussion, it is evident that sex and gender differences have been a major concern in most organizations. This research has underlined how gender and power is reflected in Flower drum. In discussing, this study collected facts and information from the field using practical observation. The research found out that, there are more men performing managerial tasks than women. Most women are assigned various duties such as serving and welcoming the guests. Still, this research has observed that women are treated differently from men. For instance, men are first given the menu check while women are first served food. This research has found out that, men are believed to be the providers thus it is assumed that they are the one in charge of paying the bill. Additionally, most women opt for a healthier diet with an intention of keeping the shape. However, men opt for heavy meals with an intention of building muscles and adding energy in their body. This research also found out that men eat more than women. Thus, this research found out that the social behaviour surrounding men is that men have a strong influence in management, they are the providers, and strong decision makers. However, women have a strong tendency of attracting guests; they are polite, kind, good looking, submissive, and welcoming. Thus, they are assigned various duties such as welcoming and serving the guests and preparing meals. From this analysis, this research project has achieved its objectives by evaluating how gender and power is best reflected in the restaurants. Despite that there has been extensive progress in diversifying managerial tasks, including a few cases of women supervisors, sex and gender in Flower drum is a long way off. This research has found men are mostly assigned managerial tasks while women are given tasks that align with their personalities and traits.

Bibliography

Casey, E., 2007, Gender and Consumption: Domestic Cultures and the Commercialisation of Everyday Life, Ashgate Publishing Ltd, Farnham.

Coles, T. 2008, ‘Finding space in the field of masculinity: lived experiences of men’s masculinities’, Journal of Sociology, v. 44, no. 3, Sept 2008: (233) -248.

Crompton, R., 2006, Employment and the Family: The Reconfiguration of Work and Family Life in Contemporary Societies, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

Davison, K.G., 2007, Negotiating masculinities and bodies in schools: the implications for gender theory for the education of boys, Edwin Mellen Press, New York.

Gordon, T., 2006, ‘Girls in education: citizenship, agency and emotions’, Gender and Education, Vol 18, no. 1, January, pp. 1-15.

Jack, D. C., & Ali, 2010, Silencing the self across cultures: depression and gender in the social world. Oxford, Oxford University Press.

Natalier, K., 2003, ‘I’m not his wife’: Doing gender and doing housework in the absence of women’, Journal of Sociology, 39, 3:253-269.

City of Melbourne 2013, Flower Drum Restaurant, Retrieved from http://www.thatsmelbourne.com.au/DiningandNightlife/Restaurants/FineDining/Pages/3531.aspx

Research Ethics

This research took in consideration issues of confidentiality, privacy, and other sensitivities of the subjects that the research was studying. Particularly, this research has protected the research participants so that conflicts or misunderstanding may not arise on who assisted the research to be successful. This research clarified in advance to the management of a Flower drum restaurant on the main goals and objectives of carrying out the research. Lastly, this research was conducted effectively without defiling the rights of the restaurant and clients. To uphold the dignity of the restaurant, this research will protect any negative observation made that may defile the restaurant’s image to the public.