During the week I work as a barista at Portuguese restaurant.
Ahhh, the Barista. That is Italian for bartender. But, as you know, it is now used for coffee shop workers.
It is often used for coffee shop workers. I think barista has evolved into many things these days in the hospitality industry. It is the title that I use at my place of employment.
Yes. In Italian female barmaids were called baristes.
Well now the term is genderless. It can apply to both females and males, at least it does where I work. 
We aim for gender neutrality these days, so we used gender less language to avoid referring specifically to males or females.
I think that is a good thing. I personally prefer to call myself a server though. I think the word barista is a little old school.
I could see why you'd think so. It avoids the whole gender neutrality struggle and supports public policies designed to eliminate gender distinctions.
This is all so interesting! And to think all of this came from talking about the term barista!
It does take a special skill to make espresso, so I value your work.