9 Quotes From Badass Female Chefs

For everyone who longs for a time when there won't have to be a distinction between chefs and female chefs, when women in the kitchen won't be judged by their looks instead of their talent or paid less for doing the same work, we're with you. In this industry and in many others, there is still much work to be done.

While we're working, though, let's take the time to celebrate the women in food who inspire us every day. On this International Women's Day, we turn to chefs like Julia Child, Anita Lo and Dominique Crenn to remind us why they do what they do and to inspire other women to keep going.

Get out there, girls.

① "Oh, dearie, dainty doesn't do it in the kitchen." —Julia Child

② "I get up every day, do the best that I can do, and go home and have a good time." —Ina Garten, Cherry Bombe Jubilee 2015

③ "If you're not in a good mood, the only thing you should make is a reservation." —Carla Hall

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④ "Women of my generation were keen – rightly – not to be tied to the stove, but the ramifications of this were that they felt a sense of dread in the kitchen. How can this be good for anyone? I also feel that to denigrate any activity because it has traditionally been associated with the female sphere is in itself anti-feminist." —Nigella Lawson

⑤ ”I bent my head over a stove in my early 20s and picked it up in my 30s." —Alex Guarnaschelli, New York Times 2007

⑥ "We are all chefs, but I am supposed to be something else, too. I am expected to be a champion on the gender cause on top of that. Don't get me wrong: I want to help pave the way to make things better for female chefs in our industry—and for all chefs in general—but I worry that I will always be seen as a female chef first and a chef second. It's a corner I am forever stuck in." —Dominique Crenn, Vice 2014

⑦ "Today's innovation is tomorrow's tradition." —Lidia Bastianich

⑧ "The difference between being a good cook and being a good chef is as big as the difference between playing online Texas Hold'em in your pajamas and holding a chair in the World Series of Poker." —Gabrielle Hamilton

⑨ "I really hope that I've given women and gay people a role model. . . . I think there's so much change to be done. I think women aren't pushed and don't push themselves. And the other part is we're not given opportunity to be included . . ." —Anita Lo, The Village Voice 2013