Working at Bazooms
O Hooters is a restaurant whose waiting staff are
primarily attractive young women, usually referred
to simply as "Hooter Girls", whose revealing outfits
and sex appeal are played up and are a primary
component of the company's image. The company
employs other men and women as cooks, hosts (at
some franchises), busboys, and managers.[3] The
menu includes hamburgers and other sandwiches,
steaks, seafood entrees, appetizers, and the
restaurant's specialty, chicken wings. Almost all
Hooters restaurants hold alcoholic beverage
licenses to sell beer and wine, and, where local
permits allow, a full liquor bar. Hooters T-shirts,
sweatshirts, and various souvenirs and curios are
also sold.
Participant Observation
O Six months of work and interviews
“Bazooms”
O AKA Hooters
O From here on out, I’m just going to call
it Hooters, because that’s what it is.
O In case this is lost on any of you, this
refers to breasts.
Dynamics of Power, Gender,
Sexuality
O Gender roles, sexuality, job power
dynamics constantly constructed and
reconstructed
O Women are objectified here
O But they also are active ‘architects’ of
gender power and sexuality in these
settings
O They are not passive victims
The Bazooms Work
Environment
O Would you be comfortable wearing this
uniform?
O Uniforms are only in Small, Extra Small,
and Extra Extra Small
O Have to make the job “fun” by playing
with toys like hula hoops
O Sexual Harassment is commonplace
O Atmosphoere based on sex appeal
O Joking and innuendo expected
Researching Hooters
O No one asked why she was applying
O She wanted to know how the women
experienced and responded to the
workplace
O This is NOT a strip club or anything else,
this is a legal job
O Interviews with those who are
comfortable with the questions
Job Based Power
O Power: The Idea of Who is In Control
Formal Power
O Gender and power reflected in
management
O All Kitchen Workers are Men
O All Managers are Men
O Even though this is supposed to be a
woman’s work
Formal Power
O Managers have the last say on everything
O Because no waitresses are women, this
means men control women in this
environment
O Not merely a situation where managers
control their employees, which is of
course expected
Formal Power
O Job is at risk at all times
Formal Power
O All of a sudden we would have menu tests
and we were told if we missed too many we
would be fired. Now I know I missed about
twenty. These girls they wanted to fire
missed less than that I’m sure. They were
fired right away because they missed
some…but they didn’t say anything to me.
Or, if they really wanted to get rid of certain
people, they would put up one schedule, and
then put up a different copy with different
hours after the girls left. The girls wouldn’t
know, so they fired for not showing up to
their shifts.
Formal Power
O Obviously this is formal power.
O Other examples:
O PreShift JumpStart
O Checked for cleanliness, styled hair,
makeup, counseled on attitude, pop
quizzes, lectures
O Makes power explicit
Formal Power
O Thus, male management had the power
to dominate how women acted in the
workplace in a formal legal way based on
company rules.
Informal Power
O Insults
O Disciplinary Actions
O Direct Orders
O Threats
O Avoidance of Concerns
O Cynicism
O Humiliation
Informal Power
O Call the waitresses “girls”
O Don’t call the men “boys”!
O And definitely not the managers!
Informal Power
O Humiliating comments
O “The Management has no respect for
any of us waitresses. No respect.”
Gender
O How does Gender operate in this
environment?
Behavior Rules
O Have to look and act a certain way
Guidelines
O Wholesome Looking.
O All American cheerleading types, the
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kind you would be proud to take home to
mom. Prom like appearance.
Hair should be styled, always.
Makeup needs to be worn, always.
Always smiling, friendly, courteous.
Always appear to be having a great time.
Extremely attentive to all customers.
Guidelines
O Should be girl next door, cheerleader,
actress, good daughter, prom queen,
shining happy personality.
O Management wants to women to be a
certain ideal
O “What a girl should be”
O Women need to act out gender
(according to men’s rules)
Appearance Rules
O Uniforms, short shorts, tight tank top,
crop, tight shirt.
O Obviously, this is a female uniform.
O Can you imagine a man wearing this?
O Image provided.
Appearance Rules
O You should look like you’re going on a
date.
O You’re chosen because you are all
pretty.
O Feminine Ideals
O Constantly say what femininity is
O Determined by men
Emotional Labor
O Induce or suppress feeling in order to
influence other people
O Must hide true feelings
O “They must be performers as Bazooms
girls…
O Nobody can be bubbly that long, but
when you’re working you put on an act”
Emotional Labor
O Girls are encouraged to become their
roles
O “Deep acting”
Emotional Labor
O Demanded by management
O But also demanded by customers
O Ask someone for their order without a
smile…
O “You look pissed.”
Emotional Labor
O Deference: part of the job
O Be at service of the men, management and
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customers alike
Women become easy targets of verbal abuse
When customers become a problem…
Waitresses not allowed to act
Problems must be given to management
Management (men) is allowed to get angry
Sexualized Workplace
O Women work not only as women but as
“sexualized women”
O No secret about sexual appeal of the
workplace
O Why is this such a great marketing tactic?
O Because it appeals to male fantasy
Hooters Girls
O Kinda famous in the USA
O Everyone knows about them
O There is an ideal Hooters girl
Hooters Girls
O When waitresses aren’t the ideal…
O “You’re not slutty enough” to work
here
O “Oh, you look innocent. You must have a
wild side”
O In case you’re wondering, he’s
suggesting she must secretly be a slut
Masculine Culture
O A lot of men’s ideas of big fun
O Hooters Girls act like
O Pet
O Mother
O Sex Object
Masculine Culture
O Men act like men
O Flirt with waitresses
O Harass waitresses
O Make awful awful jokes about sex
Masculine Culture
O Waitresses are supposed to manage
feelings
O This means keep the men happy
O If men came to this place to harass
women and women rejected them
O They would obviously be unhappy
Masculine Culture
O Women there to enhance masculine
culture
O And also enjoy the attention they get
from the men
Sexual Harassment
O In normal work, 75% of women
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experience common sexual jokes and
comments
“Joking” is an easy path to harassment
You can think, this is a way for men to
say whatever they want
And if anyone is offended
They’re just like, “Oh, I’m joking,
don’t get so crazy about it”
Sexual Harassment
O Jokes like “You give good head”
O “Your lips would be so nice to kiss”
O “I wish I were in a shower with all of
you”
Sexual Harassment
O “The worst experience...they were
asking me and another girl about which
actresses had real or fake books. The last
question asked whether I had real or
fake boobs. I just sat there, silent, I was
so upset. And they started asking about
bra sizes at one of the tables. That just
makes me so mad.”
Sexual Harassment
O Women aren’t forced to participate of
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course
“Marginally participate”
They must be careful not to say things
that would appear coarse or rude
Thus jokes are one way
Girls can’t really say anything negative
“They don’t want you there if you are
going to stick up for yourself”
Sexual Harassment
O Hooters has come under fire because
they don’t address harassment
whatsoever
O But then, they know if they dealt with
harassment seriously, their restaurant
might lose its appeal
O Because this is a restaurant whose main
attraction is that women are objects
Agency
O Idea of free will
O We can shape our destiny
O We are not forced to do things
O The notion of the individual
O All wrapped up in this neat little word
we sociologists call “agency”
Agency
O Some waitresses emphasized sexuality
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more than necessary
Encouraged men to harass them
This resulted in bigger tips
Calculation:
Harassment vs Tips
There were limits however
Others did not do this
Agency
O They either:
O Attempt to undermine the power
structure
O Manipulate gender to preserve self
image
O Co-opt and counteract sexualized
identities
Undermining the Power
Structure
O Waitresses resist the power structure
management by doing different things
informally
O Gossip as resistance
O Talk about the shit they have to deal with
O Sharing Complaints
Undermine The Structure
O Confront managers directly on policies
O This begins a “struggle”
O “You know, you have no respect for any
of us waitresses.”
O “You know, I should just send you home
for good.”
Undermine the Structure
O Talked back to managers when they told
her that her hair wasn’t styled enough
O Established power boundaries were
consciously tested by management and
waitress alike
O In that case, the manager decided it
wasn’t worth it to press the issue
O Waitress won that struggle
Undermine the Structure
O Management ultimately retains ultimate
power
O Direct challenges are squelched
O You can’t talk back or you will get fired
or written up…
O Even when policies are patently offensive
Undermine the Structure
O Key point:
O The women at Hooters do not simply
accept these power relations. They
struggle to create solidarity and actively
resist the passivity management wants
from them.
Gender Based Strategies
O Resist and manipulate gender roles to fit
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their needs
Not all women comfortable with “Hooters
Girl” ideal
Most were insecure and nervous with the
uniform at first
Socializing Process: All of them wear the
exact same thing
After awhile, waitresses care more about
how uncomfortable the uniforms are
Gender Based Strategies
O Nonetheless, not all wore the uniform
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the same way
Choices made about how much cleavage
to show
Whether to waer a tshirt
Whether to raise the shorts up
Manipulated the concept of the Hooters
Girl
Gender Based Strategies
O Become aware of the obsessions on
appearance
O Counseling others on resisting these
pressrues
O Redefine gender ideals in workplace
Counteracting and Coopting
Sexual Identities
O Women who dress for attention get
labeled as slut or whore
O Many concerned about this
O Many waitresses worked to counteract
this
O Many told customers about their
identities so they wouldn’t be
identified as sluts or whores
Counteracting
O “I’m a college student trying to pay my
loans”
O “I’m a mother, trying to work for my
kids”
O Challenge the ideal Hooters girl so that
they become more respectable
Engage
O Others, on the other hand, engaged the
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sexualized identity and enhanced it
Took the “bad girl” role
Got bigger tips
“Learn to deal with people more
sexually”
Playing up the Hooters girl can be
serious money making strategy
Split Between Women
O Some downplayed, others embellished
Negotiating Sexuality and
Harassment
O Deal with harassment in a variety of
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ways
Some go directly to managers in the
event of harassment without question
Others give customers “gnarliest looks”
Others laugh at it off and walk away
Ultimately refusing the masculinity
culture while working within the system
Negotiating
O Accept abuse as part of the job
O That way, they don’t internalize the
dail hassles and degradesgations of thir
self definition or sense of self worth
O Calclulations are part of the job
O One reacted to a butt grab to get more
money
O Another told a customer “Do not do this
to me”
Negotiating
O Customers don’t respect waitresses
O Waitresses don’t respect customers
O There is a theater act to all of this
Conclusion
O Hooters, a drama of power, gender,
sexuality
O Path of least resistance
O People are constrained by the
environment they’re in
Conclusion
O Women hired to put on a specific
performinace
O They must do certain things and act on
the formal script
O Limited greatly by assumptions men
make about htem
O Very easy to classify women as objects in
such environments
Conclusion
O Women however actively shape their
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own experience
They struggle to work within the
environment to shape their needs
Retain self esteem
Exercise Power
Affirm the identities they value
Conclusion
O Alter their roles
O Rewrite the script
O Refashion the nautuer ot the drama
O Play to their own advanceg
O Find opportunities to increase tips
O Support kids
O Find affirmation of self worth
Conclusion
O This is a micro societ
O In it, we can see how people are uniquely
constrained down to one ideal
O But there is still plenty of individual
variation here
Notes
O A great demonstration of sociology
O A great demonstration of research