August 1982: Where Have All the Women Gone?

1) A woman in foodservice

There is a relevancy to all of this as you will soon see. First, permit me to dispense with some preliminaries that bug me.

I find Phyllis Schlafly contemptible for a number of reasons: for her narrow-mindedness, for her deliberate disinclination to look at issues objectively—which translates into a most despicable dishonesty; and, finally, for her assumption that she, as a member of the human race (the jury is still out on that one), is fit to speak out on behalf of women’s rights. That last point is somewhat splenetic, but, inasmuch as she’s gotten her licks in, I figure she’s got it coming.

Schlafly is the loudmouthpiece of Eagle Forum, a hairteasing organization hell-bent on keeping women trapped in kitchens and bedrooms. She was the octane behind the movement fueling the flames that eventually engulfed the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), an immolation that signaled to fired-up Schlaflies their cause had been vindicated.

Schlafly’s opposition to the ERA was based largely on distinctions drawn between the physical makeup of men and of women. If, as the proposed amendment stated, “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.”, then, argued Schlafly, what if women were to be drafted. What if they wanted to be firemen? She was always gibbering something about “upper body strength,” fearing, perhaps, that should the ERA become law, the National Football League would have no recourse but to draft linebackers from Vassar.

Her arguments, as warped as her cause, had little validity, little relevance, no substance. She ignored—frightening, isn’t it?—the ultimate strength: that of the mind.

Supporters of the ERA had to cope with a lunatic fringe, too, made up mostly of rebellious women who talked defiantly and with raised fists about a future generation of amazons, as if the issue were superiority, not equality; physical prowess rather than mental agility. Swept along by everything from abortion to body-building, they managed to introduce the irrelevancy of lesbian rights; and that, unfortunately, persuaded critics that should the ERA pass it would deliver from the closets of America thousands of homosexuals ready to assume positions of leadership, based not on ability, but on sexual proclivities, as if management talent and potential were somehow linked inextricably to a hyperactive libido, gay or not. 

This is all a caution, as you may have surmised by now. I hope you won’t assume that now, because the ERA failed, you have a mandate to treat women unfairly. Yet, I know (and so do you) that there are people in this industry—men and women—who feel they have that right, a belief which, in an industry as labor-intensive as ours, borders on madness. You cannot afford to ignore, to waste, to abuse, whatever talent you’ve hired, male or female.

I have no proof, but I suspect that one of the reasons productivity curves continue to resemble the flights of dying quail is that they ignore the impact on sales and profits women, in management slots, might contribute; and how, in ignoring those contributions restaurants, restaurant chains, and hotels effectively diminish the energy and efficiencies of their operations.

2) Women in foodservice

The National Restaurant Association tells us that 66 percent of the eight million people employed in foodservice are women. I’ll buy that. I won’t its statement that half of all foodservice managerial and administrative personnel are women. Not only are estimates like that nearly always inflated, but, unless the NRA is including as “managerial and administrative” women who are partners with men in so-called mom ’n’ pop restaurants, unless the NRA is counting every hostess, cook, cashier, and the like in that group, its statement is rose-colored humbug.

Furthermore, a close look at the annual reports of restaurant and lodging chains turns up so small a percentage of women among the ranks of company officers and boards of directors that the figure isn’t worth citing.

Where have all the women gone? I’m not sure. I know they’re not all married, not all pregnant, not all raising families.

In an ad for a woman’s magazine, its publisher notes that “businesses can’t afford massive mediocrity. They have to get maximum productivity out of every employee to be successful.” 

Woman in foodservice: Leah-Anne Thompson; women in foodservice: Rodolfo Arpia/Shutterstock.com