Hooters Girl Research Paper

1112 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Gender roles and stereotypes issues paper

As an embarrassed preteen girl sitting with her dad in a booth, I made a vow early on to never voluntarily step foot into such a restaurant that would force a woman to dress and act in such a demeaning way. Little did I know that at age 16 I would apply for my first job as a hostess at Hooters, and two years later be promoted to the infamous Hooters Girl. Just as my disposition as a white, middle-class, female initially sparked my prejudice against the entire establishment, it also largely affected the percentage of tips received based upon the guests and my experience at the restaurant as a whole. While obviously gender was not as a defining factor in being a Hooters Girl, a girl’s class and race-ethnicity afforded some a certain level of …show more content…

Gender wise, obviously there is less focus between men and women as waitresses must be female, and more about the scale of femininity of each girl. Although there is no requirement for the girl’s breast size, the larger she was, the less she had to rely on her personality in order to receive a good tip. Likewise, all waitresses are required to style their hair and wear a full face of makeup, however those who spent more time to curl their hair and wore brighter, natural makeup tend to receive better results. To quote Johnson, “Men don’t have to deal with an endless and exhausting stream of attention drawn to their gender (for example, to how sexually attractive they are)” (Johnson 2006:28), which is especially proven so in a profession that one’s pay full relies on such. In my own experience, the day shifts where I wore lighter, more natural pinks and brown makeup with straight hair, my tips were significantly higher than if I were to use the same color scheme for a night shift. Conversely, for night shifts I had the best results with a full face of glittery, dark makeup and curled hair. The level of femininity required heavily relied on the time of day. This is such a large part of a Hooters Girl image, that we are required to “line-up” before each shift to ensure that our uniform and physical appearance, from hair to nails, was up to

Show More
Related

  • Waffle House: Pop Culture Icon

    3147 Words  | 7 Pages

    Waffle House remains cemented in pop culture as a place where one can enjoy a meal with friends at any hour. This image of a fun, all night hangout has recently been tarnished by multiple allegations of racism on the part of both customers and employees. Our group feels the best way to combat this negative association between the restaurant and discrimination would be for Waffle House to become positively involved in charities to support historically African American communities. By releasing more information and keeping an open relationship with the media, Waffle House will be able to more effectively contest negative publicity.

    Read More

  • Summary Of Tipping Is An Abomination By Brian Palmer

    1025 Words  | 3 Pages

    Brian Palmer’s “Tipping is an Abomination”, he tries to reach out to all types of audiences. He attempts to appeal to the emotional side to each audience. He often states that tipping “perpetuates” racism. African-Americans, on average, tip 3% less points than a white customer would have tipped. The tipping gap between Caucasian and Hispanics is even smaller. This fact can affect racial groups greatly. He also shows that this gives restaurant serves an excuse to serve different ethnic groups over other groups. This can anger others to know that they will be served differently and will not get the same respect from their server solely based on their ethnicity. He also often expresses to us that it not fair to waiter to have their tip based most commonly on their attitude and personality rather than their hard work and effort. Although he appeals to racial groups emotionally well, he fails to showcase the sexism side of tipping. It’s no surprise that female servers will most likely receive larger tips than a male server, regardless of the quality of the service. Overall, his article appeals emotionally to many types of

    Read More

  • Guyland Kimmel Summary

    996 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Guyland, Kimmel discusses the cultures of entitlement, silence, and protection. Today, many young men have a “shockingly strong sense of male superiority and a diminished capacity for empathy.” (59) When guys subscribe to what Kimmel calls “Guy Code,” they are rewarded with this newfound sense of entitlement. Kimmel gives the example of white men in their late twenties and early thirties who participated in a show called “A Black Women Stole My Job.” Even though all of the candidates for the job were evaluated on the same platform and the black women was picked for the position, the men thought it was “their” job for the taking, even though they had never worked in that job to begin with. This sense of entitlement is one of the reasons that

    Read More

  • Minstrelsy in the American Film Industry

    2527 Words  | 6 Pages

    Yang, G. & Ryser, T. A. (2008). Whiting up and Blacking Out: White Privlege, Race, and White Chicks. African American Review, 42(3/4), 731-746. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/40301264

    Read More

  • Chipotle Mexican Grill Research Paper

    358 Words  | 1 Pages

    While the economy withers, there is a new fast food company that grew a little over 20% in the last year. The Chipotle Mexican Grill is a growing fast food chain. Chipotle offers a new fast food experience. Tasty. Hip. Fresh. This is a place with a promise of “food with integrity”.

    Read More

  • The Thirteenth Amendment and Slavery in The United States

    1964 Words  | 4 Pages

    On February 1st, 1960, four African American college students from North Carolina A+T College, an all black college, went to be served at Woolworth’s restaurant. The restaurant was open to all customers, but only served whites at th...

    Read More

  • Panera Bread Ethnographic Analysis Paper

    597 Words  | 2 Pages

    I first dined at a Panera Bread over five years ago. Prior to buying my first chocolate chip cookie from Panera Bread, I viewed this store as a foreign restaurant in which middle-class Caucasians would eat at in order to feel wealthier and socially more important. Since my first encounter with this restaurant chain, I have had many eating experiences at Panera Bread locations in Connecticut, North Carolina, Massachusetts, and most recently Maine. The Panera Bread in Maine, however, is much different than many of the other restaurant locations I have visited. Unlike in my home state of North Carolina, or even Massachusetts, the Panera Bread location in Topsham, Maine is racially homogeneous and carries with it a particular atmosphere that I

    Read More

  • Institutionalized Racism In Public Schools By Zz Packer

    1679 Words  | 4 Pages

    Institutionalized racism has been a major factor in how the United States operate huge corporations today. This type of racism is found in many places which include schools, court of laws, job places and governmental organizations. Institutionalized racism affects many factors in the lives of African Americans, including the way they may interact with white individuals. In the book “Drinking Coffee Elsewhere Stories” ZZ Packer uses her short stories to emphasize the how institutionalized racism plays in the lives of the characters in her stories. Almost all her characters experience the effects of institutionalized racism, and therefore change how they view their lives to adapt. Because institutionalized racism is a factor that affects how

    Read More

  • Summary Of Carmen R. Lugo's A Latina In Academia

    1001 Words  | 3 Pages

    Living as a Latina in the United States of America is tough. Racial stereotypes follow minorities everywhere they go, even in the classroom. The average American has a typical image of what a professor should be like, which most refer to this image as a white graduate male. These perceived images should not exist because professors come in many different genders, sexualities, and races. In “A Prostitute, A servant, and a Customer-Service Representative: A Latina In Academia,” professor in the department of Critical Culture, Gender, and Race studies, Carmen R. Lugo-Lugo uses emotional appeals and language to inform and create awareness of social and racial stereotypes, as well as how profiting is a priority amongst universities.

    Read More

  • Masculinity In Chester Himes If He Hollers, Let Him Go

    615 Words  | 2 Pages

    Bob works in shipbuilding as a leaderman, and one of his black workers asks him to bring another tacker to help. Bob asks Hank, a white leaderman, for a tacker; Hank goes on to claim that all of them are busy. Even when Bob gestures to “a couple of tackers lounging over at the port rail by the generators, gabbing,” Hank blatantly lies and claims that they are busy as well, and suggests that Bob go ask “another cracker bastard” (15). Bob holds a leadership position, but his authority is not accepted nor respected because he is black. His white coworkers refuse to let him exercise his power. In fact, even when he finally finds Madge, an available tacker, she refuses to work with him, exclaiming, “I ain’t gonna work with no nigger!” Not thinking, Bob retorts, “Screw you then, you cracker bitch!” (16). Bob’s position as a leaderman is stripped from him over this comment, further enforcing the social hierarchy he is forced to live by. Women are typically placed towards the bottom ranks of social hierarchy. In society, they are typically expected to accept whatever they are told, and suffer negative repercussions if they do not. If Madge was to report a white male leader for making sexist remarks, she would most likely be told to ignore him or not take him personally. However, because he is black, society has placed Bob even further from

    Read More

  • Persuasive Essay On Hooters

    1198 Words  | 3 Pages

    Hooters has been a popular restaurant known for spicy wings in the restaurant business for more than 27 years. They have been represented by its attractive and beautiful waitresses as known as Hooters Girls. The Hooters girl is a trademark not only the America but across the world. This image Hooters created has flourished for years and is still going strong. From the exposing outfits depicting sex appeal brings customers back for more. Unlike most restaurants there are some regulations Hooters has put in place to ensure that their waitresses are top quality. Physical appearance and a smile is everything at Hooters and it’s what brings everybody coming back. Hooters has ignited much controversy over the years on the line of discrimination

    Read More

  • Bottled And Paradox

    740 Words  | 2 Pages

    The process of consumption in the restaurant culture possess many layers of depth. In order for an individual to have a meal at a restaurant, numerous instances of “invisible labor” and “emotional labor” are undergone to provide a pristine experience for the customers (Food and Society). Invisible labor, as described by Guptil et al., is the preparation that goes into creating a meal that is neither compensated nor properly acknowledged, Guptil et al. then go onto describe emotional labor as the propensity for individuals working within a restaurant to maintain cordiality regardless of a customer’s emotional state at the time of dining. The experience of eating at a restaurant propagates the consumption culture within society because it allows individuals to enjoy well prepared food without the hassle of dealing with different forms of

    Read More

  • Occupational Career: A Career As A Softball Player

    819 Words  | 2 Pages

    Some of the specific duties of a waitress are taking orders, delivering drinks and food to the table, communication skills, and cleaning up the tables afterwards. The physical abilities required for a waitress are endurance, bilateral integration, oral-motor control, and postural control. You need to have endurance when being a waitress so that you can endure the quickness of moving throughout the restaurant while holding drinks and heavy plates. You need bilateral integration skills because you constantly use both sides of your body and both hands while caring for the guest. You need oral-motor control so that you can decipher what a guest is saying while taking their order as well as still caring for them throughout the visit. The mental skills required for a waitress are attention span, sequencing, and initiation of activity as well as termination of activity. The psycho social skills needed for a waitress are interpersonal skills, time management, social conduct, and role performance. You need to have good interpersonal skills so that you can interact with your guest and customers. You use time management when delivering food and drinks so you make sure they get everything in a timely manner. You need social conduct so that you know how to act with your guest as well as with your other employees, and role performance is important so that you know that your role is within the job and act accordingly.The senses that you

    Read More

  • Excessive Political Correctness

    1528 Words  | 4 Pages

    Burger King had good intentions in creating the Kid’s Club in 1990. The group pictured below littered all Kid’s Meals, cups, and were often within the meals themselves as toys. Within their slew of characters, Burger King managed to represent Hispanics, Blacks, Whites, tomboys, dogs, nerds, and those confined to wheelchairs. Kudos to Burger King for this unprecedented and unabashed attempt at political correctness before P.C. was even a household term. However, somewhere in the planning process, the Kid’s Club went horribly astray. The characters were not only representatives of their respective societal group, they were stereotypes. In one of the most obvious instances, the bright young boy in the wheelchair was cruelly named Wheels, as if to add insult to his debilitating disability. The redhead to the right of the picture is named I.Q. and is stereotyped as a nerd with his thick glasses, loaded backpack, calculator, giant digital watch, and a finger pointed knowingly upward, as if I.Q. himself knows the answer to any question life may throw his way. The group as a whole looks cheerful...

    Read More

  • Gender Inequality

    1840 Words  | 4 Pages

    These inequalities are accepted readily in today’s society and most fail to see that direct gender discrimination is still very much a problem in society today. In 1988, Bretl and Cantor conducted a study into gender representation in television programs and advertisements. It was found that women were more likely to be filmed in a domestic situation and portrayed as being unemployed, working part-time or in low paying jobs such as catering and sales. It was also found that 90% of the time a narrator would be male, and women were more likely than men to be seen advertising household goods (Furnham, A. Mak, T. 1999, 414). It...

    Read More

More about Hooters Girl Research Paper

Open Document