Bon appétit
There is a place inside of myself, where I’ve hidden all of the scars and traumas I’ve gained from a life, as a women, working in the Danish restaurant industry. I haven’t dared reveal them to others, but only a few, close friends, out of fear of being rejected or mocked, in a work environment, where to voice how one feels, what one has experienced or to enforce boundaries, is met with indifference, hostility and ridicule.
Particularly as a woman, it has been near impossible to voice objection or to find solidarity from colleagues or superiors, as the restaurant industry, in its construction, is dominated by patriarchal values, set in a bulletproof, almost militant, hierarchal system, that serves an exclusive club of men, with the rest of us as collateral damage. When I’ve attempted to insert a boundary, my actions have been turned against me, as a “confirmation” that it was I,who was the problem. As if, by speaking of any issues, I, myself, made them come to life.
As with the time where I was working at a natural wine bar in Nørrebro, Copenhagen, where I, by my manager, was reminded that I myself had taken part in all existing »conflicts« in the work place
