Educational Media Reviews Online

Dish presents the daily grind of waitresses and how they professionally approach abuse that they would never tolerate in their private lives. In a wide variety of establishments, from truck stops and topless greasy spoons to moderately priced Parisian bistros and Japanese "maid cafes" (where young women dressed as maids address lonely male customers as "masters"), most of the complaints and hardships focus on the low wages, long hours and lack of appreciation for the challenging nature of this service profession. However in the more titillating establishments, we hear of a horrific amount of sexual harassment, including touching, grabbing and sexist comments (such, as "You get double D service!") that would not be tolerated in virtually any other profession.

As the film shifts focus to high end Parisian restaurants, misogyny abounds as male wait staff enumerate the ways in which waitresses are not qualified to work in high end establishments: they cry, they take things personally, they give in easily to pressure, they should be at home with their children at night and they are weak and cannot lift heavy trays. The filmmaker contrasts these sexist assertions with comedic footage of a male waiter in that restaurant who seems to burn his fingers on every plate, appears tired and frustrated and actually drops some dirty dishes, all the while, one of two waitresses glides effortlessly with graceful efficiency throughout the restaurant. The one problem is that the maitre d' at this particular restaurant is a woman. What is preventing her, as the manager, from dealing with this poor failing schmuck: is she simply derelict in her duties?

Though the film does a decent job of introducing an important area of gender discrimination in the workplace, it is only recommended with reservations because there are additional gaps along the way. We see both gracious and masochistic comments from male customers, but we are never presented with the perspectives of a single male waiter from North America: the filmmakers would almost seem to have us believe that while there are male restaurant owners and managers, there is not a single male waiter in Canada. Moreover, despite its international focus in Toronto, Montreal, Tokyo and Paris, the United States, a country where waitresses have the added difficulty of not having socialized medicine or universal healthcare, is completely overlooked. I also find the exclusion of the United States problematic because my personal experience in several metropolitan areas suggests a higher inclusion of women wait staff in high end restaurants as well as more male wait staff in lower to moderately priced establishments. That said, this documentary does offer insights into a field that would seem to have little current coverage but is quite relevant to women's study courses.