am I a racist/sexist if I walk out of a Japanese restaurant with white female chefs?
 

I was reading another thread about sushi and thought about something that
happened recently..... this is more or less a confession, I think.

My co-workers and I went to this very expensive and fancy Japanese restaurant
recently. None of us had ever been there before and all we knew was it was
extremely pricey.

When we walked in, we looked towards the sushi bar and noticed that both
sushi chefs were white and female.(very attractive, by the way). We looked
at each other and said "let's go somewhere else tonight" so we left. The
hostess looked very confused as we left.

We ended up eating at a Korean BBQ place on the next block. It became
apparent that all three of use were thinking the same thing. We've watched
too many food shows about Japan where they said the Japanese don't let
women prepare sushi because of...(no need to go into details)

Am I a racist/sexist?(against those two white female sushi chefs that night?)

Probably just short-sighted. I will not use a stronger word. Most all the sushi in these parts are Korean. Although perhaps since "they" have a similar degree of skin tint and a similar degree of eye slant, maybe that makes it "ok" as opposed to a Caucasian slicing the fish. :o Oh, and most of the fish slicers have a similar appendage between the legs.

so I guess I was just discriminating against female sushi chefs. :(
what should my punishment be?

yes.

It's a thoughtful question.

Does someone's appearance alone make them more or less qualified to undergo the years of training entailed in becoming a particular kind of chef?

Surely attributes like skin tone, apparent ethnicity, gender etc. are irrelevant to the skills that one has learned in one's own profession?

I think I'm basically brainwashed into thinking that women don't make
good sushi chefs. (thanks to all the Japanese shows that I've watched
over the years) No, it's not an excuse... :(

"The Japanese don't let ..." you mean "The Japanese men don't let the Japanese women ..." After all, then who would serve your tea in appropriate costume.

As you said the restaurant was very expensive and fancy, I would expect that the ownership would be hiring people very qualified in their craft.

This is a topic better suited for OMNI/PR.

Feel free to re-start it there.

cblaisd
Co-Moderator, Dining Buzz