I'm seeing an argument in this subreddit fairly commonly, and that argument is that the usual Hell's Kitchen Battle of the Sexes should be scrapped because of misogyny and the patriarchy. I hear that argument, but I personally don't think it holds much water, and I'll explain why.

I don't think that committing to a format that maintains two mixed gender teams makes much of a difference when it comes to sexism and misogyny in the kitchen because those tend to be beliefs learned at home long before someone comes to Hell's Kitchen. Take Matt from Season 16, for example. One could reasonably argue that his sexism was more muted before he joined the red team. Before he joined the red team, he was a dick. After he joined the red team, he was a dick and an overt, vocal sexist. In fact, I remember in one confessional that he said he was glad that Andrew joined the red team with him because "too much estrogen in the kitchen isn't good."

In typical fashion, he crashed and burned and delivered some sexist comments on his way out, much like Frank (S15), Johnny (S16), and Paulie (S16). Season 16 was just really bad with so many sexist dudes on one team.

With that in mind, though, how would having mixed gender teams prevent this kind of sexism when that is probably a belief that a chef has held long before they ever came to HK? We've also seen numerous women, notably Robyn (S10), complain about working with other women because "they're too catty" and say that they prefer working with men. Internalized sexism? Maybe.

So I guess my question is just this: can someone explain to me how mixed gender teams from start to finish would combat sexism in the kitchen? Genuine question because I don't have a preference one way oe the other. Looking to learn/understand better, not argue.