Woman Steward on a Ship: From Curse to Chef of the Galley The sea has always been a male domain. Not only because it required physical strength, but also due to deep superstitions. It was believed that a woman on a ship brings misfortune, and if she stands at the stove, disaster is sure to follow. But times are changing, and today a woman steward on a ship is not an exoticism or a taboo violation, but a quite ordinary, albeit challenging, profession. How did this stereotype break down and what lies behind the image of a woman feeding a crew at sea? Sea Myth and Reality: From Superstitions to the First Female Names The sea has always been conservative. Women on merchant and warships did not exist for a long time, except for rare cases when they dressed as men to escape poverty or persecution. The steward, or galley cook, was an essential figure on a ship: his skills determined not only the morale of the crew but also their health. In the era of sail fleets, the food of seamen was meager: salted meat, bread, rotten water. A good steward who could diversify the diet was invaluable. But women were forbidden from entering there. The first mentions of female stewards date back to the mid-20th century. During World War II, when men went to the front, some women took their places on auxiliary ships. They worked in the kitchens of hospital ships and transports. But these were isolated cases, and after the war they were pushed back. The real breakthrough occurred in the 1970s-1980s, when large shipping companies, especially Scandinavian and British, began to realize that a good cook does not have to be a man. In 1985, the Norwegian ship "Stavanger" set sail for the first time with a female steward on board. This caused a scandal in the press, but surprisingly, the crew was satisfied: the food became tastier, cleaner, and more varied. The Galley — Not Just a Kitchen, but a Battle Station Working as a steward on a ship is fundamentally different from working as a chef o ... Read more