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"At this stage of the game, we are fielding enough comments both from contestants and viewers about the fact that the three (and now, with Jessie's loss in this week's Quickfire Challenge, four) first chefs to go home were women that it seems worth a comment from yours truly. And so, a note about casting: The casting directors of Top Chef always cast an equal number of male and female contestants, but this is a ratio not seen in the industry itself. There are not nearly as many women as men in the field. In past blogs I've delved into the inequities facing women in the workplace, so I won't reiterate it all here. More men typically try out to be contestants on Top Chef, giving us a larger male talent pool to draw from. In no way does this mean that women are somehow deficient as chefs. It is simply a matter of the numbers. For those of you ready to flame away that four women were the first to leave the show, consider this: we judge every challenge on the food in front of us and the considerations of that particular challenge. The sexist and patronizing thing to do would be to give special consideration to anyone due to his/her gender.

And I think it makes no sense whatsoever to suggest that if the editors have chosen to include a sexist remark by a particular cheftestant in a given season this means that Top Chef condones sexism. All it does is highlight the sexism of that particular chef. If anything, it reflects well on the editors of the show, who have chosen to reveal an individual's true colors rather than shield him from the censure of viewers."

By all means, let us censure Mikey I. I loved how he thinks Jen winning all the time is favoritism. Silly judges, rewarding the more talented chef.