Burgers and tits
A Hooters in Liverpool – Julie Bindel is not impressed.
The all-female waiting staff are required to wear extremely skimpy shorts, tight, low-cut T-shirts, and tights. When a birthday or stag crowd are in, which is most nights, coins are tossed for which of the waitresses take part in the odd wet T-shirt competition, to keep the crowds entertained. The restaurant is, of course, aimed at large groups of heavy-drinking men and, on occasion, customers will be offered half-price entry into the nearest lap-dancing club for afters.
Kind of like beach volleyball without the volleyball.
In 2008, I visited the first UK branch in Nottingham. It was hideous and more than one of the waitresses told me, in the full knowledge that I was writing a piece for a national newspaper from a critical standpoint, that they hated their jobs and hated the customers even more.
…
Before starting work, Hooters girls in the US have to sign a contract that reads: ‘I hereby acknowledge and affirm that the Hooters concept is based on female sex appeal and that the work environment is one in which joking and innuendo based on female sex appeal is commonplace.’ It continues: ‘I also expressly acknowledge and affirm I do not find my job duties, uniform requirements or work environment to be intimidating, hostile or unwelcome.’
So they have to sign a contract that says they don’t find their job hostile before they’ve started doing the job. Seems fair.
In granting this licence, Liverpool Council has shown itself to not give a hoot about the objectification of women. Providing alcohol in an atmosphere riddled with sexism is never a good idea. I expect to see a massive feminist protest against this monstrosity opening in the city, or anywhere else in the UK.
Scantily clad waitresses are certainly nothing new, but I would have hoped that after more than half a century of feminism, women being served up to rowdy male customers would be off the menu.
Well this is third wave feminism, sex-positive feminism, woke feminism, trans women are the first priority feminism. Half a century of the real thing was just too fucking boring.
Ahem. Fun personal story.
When I was 21 I was trying to plan for a first date with a woman whom I’d finally summoned the courage to ask out, and I asked my boss where a good place to go to dinner would be. She answered “my husband likes Hooters”, so that’s where I took my date.
I have never. Been. So. Mortified. In. My. Life. Before, or since.
What can I say, I was 21, had no idea what the place was, and had never been into the place before.
This was in Boulder, Colorado, an achingly progressive city even back then. The restaurant there did eventually close down, but not from lack of business, it seems, because in recent years an actual strip club has apparently opened up right in the center of that supposedly progressive city, no doubt because of their ridiculously goofy sex-work-positive views, and because clearly the demand is there. I’m glad that I moved away, and today in my current city, which is trying hard to style itself after Boulder, I find myself pushing back against the same kind of mindset.
No, worse than that. It got in the way of guys having a good time and that’s practically a crime. Well, it should be. Obviously.
Now cue the people coming to say “they chose to work there”.
If people who say that could live in the life of a woman with few prospects, needing to feed kids or just survive, and with jobs in short supply, they might stop saying that sort of bullshit. I have no doubt that some of them chose to work there because they liked the idea, thought it was glamorous, didn’t think it would be that bad, or something. I also suspect a lot of women work there out of desperation.
Same thing with Playboy clubs. They treat the women awful, and I imagine few young women think it will be like that when they sign up. They think it will be glamour and fun and so forth. Perhaps they are naive…should they be punished for naivete? I think too many people answer that yes.
Time for some hijinks — ask the hooters why they have no “trans women” servers and demand that they hire a bunch. Label the place transphobic if there are no men in drag bouncing around in hot pants.
Judge (to defendant Mae West): Are you showing contempt for this court?
Mae West: “Why no, Your Honour.! I was doing my best to conceal it.!”
Also: https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2020/06/mae-west-autobiography-scandal
IMHO beside the feisty Mae, laughing at all the pathetic bastards lusting after her, all this modern trans stuff is pretty tame shit.
“So they have to sign a contract that says they don’t find their job hostile before they’ve started doing the job. Seems fair.”
Kind of like when a religious college requires new faculty to declare belief in certain doctrines.
There was an episode of “Undercover Boss” that was done at a Hooters in Texas. One day when business was slow, the manager decided to have a bean eating contest, winning server goes home early. They had to hold their hands behind their back and stick their face in a plate of beans and eat them while he watched and laughed. Even though the manager was fired for being a pig, the “Boss” didn’t see that the whole business model is piggish.
Sorry about being deprecating towards pigs.