Balls Enough: Manliness and Legitimated Violence in Hell's Kitchen
Nilsson, Gabriella LU
(2013)
In Gender, Work and Organization
20(6).
p.647-663
- Abstract
- This article presents one example of how masculinity and hierarchy are exercised through violence in organizations. It draws on the empirical data of 15 episodes from the US reality television series Hell’s Kitchen, in which 15 cooks compete for the job of Chef in one of celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay’s restaurants. Ramsay’s task is to lead the cooks towards a hegemonic masculinity valid in the restaurant context. An important feature is the contestant’s ability to deal with
Ramsay’s fiery temper and fits of rage. The winner is the person who succeeds in approaching Ramsay’s standards in terms of culinary art and leadership qualities, which in his terminology is referred to as manliness. Ramsay’s aggressive style of management is... (More) - This article presents one example of how masculinity and hierarchy are exercised through violence in organizations. It draws on the empirical data of 15 episodes from the US reality television series Hell’s Kitchen, in which 15 cooks compete for the job of Chef in one of celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay’s restaurants. Ramsay’s task is to lead the cooks towards a hegemonic masculinity valid in the restaurant context. An important feature is the contestant’s ability to deal with
Ramsay’s fiery temper and fits of rage. The winner is the person who succeeds in approaching Ramsay’s standards in terms of culinary art and leadership qualities, which in his terminology is referred to as manliness. Ramsay’s aggressive style of management is possible to recognize,explain and to a certain extent justify as a way of running a restaurant. But what if his tonguelashings are to be understood, not as a possible way to train skilled chefs, but instead are called violence? Gender-oriented organizational studies stress the importance of paying attention to acts of violence in organizations rather than disregarding it as organizational culture or tradition. Using concepts and perspectives from masculinity theory and feminist studies on men’s violence against women, the purpose of this article is to analyse the micro practices of how masculinity and hierarchy are exercised through violence in the restaurant environment. As will be argued, reality
television can be understood, not so much as a reflection but rather as an exaggeration of real life. It can be seen as a distorting mirror that enlarges and at the same time perverts the micro practices
of reality. The aim is dual; to investigate the link between masculinity and legitimated violence in organizations and to give prominence to the potential of reality television visualizing the normalization of violence in organizations. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/3165167
- author
- Nilsson, Gabriella
LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2013
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- masculinity, manliness, hierarchy, violence, restaurant, reality television
- in
- Gender, Work and Organization
- volume
- 20
- issue
- 6
- pages
- 647 - 663
- publisher
- Wiley-Blackwell
- external identifiers
-
- wos:000325545100004
- scopus:84885450819
- ISSN
- 1468-0432
- DOI
- 10.1111/gwao.12001
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 4c09fdbc-a086-41b9-886e-9f51c98ecef8 (old id 3165167)
- date added to LUP
- 2016-04-01 10:11:01
- date last changed
- 2022-01-25 20:37:00
@article{4c09fdbc-a086-41b9-886e-9f51c98ecef8,
abstract = {{This article presents one example of how masculinity and hierarchy are exercised through violence in organizations. It draws on the empirical data of 15 episodes from the US reality television series Hell’s Kitchen, in which 15 cooks compete for the job of Chef in one of celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay’s restaurants. Ramsay’s task is to lead the cooks towards a hegemonic masculinity valid in the restaurant context. An important feature is the contestant’s ability to deal with<br/><br>
Ramsay’s fiery temper and fits of rage. The winner is the person who succeeds in approaching Ramsay’s standards in terms of culinary art and leadership qualities, which in his terminology is referred to as manliness. Ramsay’s aggressive style of management is possible to recognize,explain and to a certain extent justify as a way of running a restaurant. But what if his tonguelashings are to be understood, not as a possible way to train skilled chefs, but instead are called violence? Gender-oriented organizational studies stress the importance of paying attention to acts of violence in organizations rather than disregarding it as organizational culture or tradition. Using concepts and perspectives from masculinity theory and feminist studies on men’s violence against women, the purpose of this article is to analyse the micro practices of how masculinity and hierarchy are exercised through violence in the restaurant environment. As will be argued, reality<br/><br>
television can be understood, not so much as a reflection but rather as an exaggeration of real life. It can be seen as a distorting mirror that enlarges and at the same time perverts the micro practices<br/><br>
of reality. The aim is dual; to investigate the link between masculinity and legitimated violence in organizations and to give prominence to the potential of reality television visualizing the normalization of violence in organizations.}},
author = {{Nilsson, Gabriella}},
issn = {{1468-0432}},
keywords = {{masculinity; manliness; hierarchy; violence; restaurant; reality television}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{6}},
pages = {{647--663}},
publisher = {{Wiley-Blackwell}},
series = {{Gender, Work and Organization}},
title = {{Balls Enough: Manliness and Legitimated Violence in Hell's Kitchen}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/gwao.12001}},
doi = {{10.1111/gwao.12001}},
volume = {{20}},
year = {{2013}},
}