"Yet if I voice my opinions about this issue, I am automatically labeled a prude. WTF?"

How are you automatically labeling these women? Anyone who differs from you on their interpretation of feminist dogma isn't allowed to be a feminist, right? Pro-sex feminism exists, you could enjoy it, it's pretty rad over here.

Why is it that when we are pro-choice then it's "our body" (ok, your body, because I'm a P.C. male but you get my meaning) and how dare someone question my own personal choice? But it's totally cool to do so when it's something relating to sexual expression or taking advantage of appearance to earn more money?

If some lifer were to argue that abortion makes women look like "whores/tramps/whatever" the counter would be "what I do is my right and you are wrong to judge me. If you don't want one, don't have one.", but someone is able to use their looks to separate some stupid dudes from their money and now you've got a vested interest.

As to profits:

Oregon has a minimum wage law, which means the increased tips will not give the male owners cause to decrease wages only monetary increase they will see would be from increased traffic. The female employees will have the biggest wage increase due to increased tips and increase in traffic. More money going to women.

Also as to male ownership:

This isn't the first establishment of it's kind, it gets a lot of attention because of of the employees is going to be or was on some reality show. There are similar places owned by women, I don't know if any of them are chains or not.

It's certainly exploitive, it exploits the customer and it exploits the physicality of the employee (just like furniture moving jobs). Just like every singe other capitalist enterprise does. The only way I would suggest a change based on the stated observations I've read it to make it a profit-share, but since it is a tip based job it is, to a degree, a profit share in a loose sense.

If there is any stigma attached to sexuality you're only perpetuating it. We choose to see that which does not harm us directly as a bad thing, you're choosing to debase these women.

I don't mean to be a downer, but I'm getting a feeling of privilege from this. I work on my feet all day, and the only reason I don't get ogled is because my uniform is the most unsexy thing ever. When you need to pay the bills, it's what you do. Lots of women make coffee all day, on their feet, and can only hope that after years of teeny tiny pay raises. If getting ogled means that I'm not struggling to pay the bills, then hand me that bikini and I'll make you a latte.

I don't mean to suggest these places are a good thing, they prey on destitute women, and like many non-sex related businesses, if the place is successful the workers see very little of it. However, many women have to sacrifice their comfort and dignity to keep their savings account above zero, so please cut the "Why are they participating?" bullshit.

I ask people to go back to the community blog post on "sex workers" which featured strippers, women who make their living off being looked at. It had, at the time of my reading, 100% positive comments from Feministing readers.

By that measure (I normally think prostitute or adult actress), these women are also sex workers, and deserve to have opportunities to make those choices.

And I'll remind people I lean toward the NoPornSouthHampton view on sex work. Allowing adults to make choices for themselves (like appearing in PETA ads) is another issue.

"When you need to pay the bills, it's what you do."

Yes, I consider the problem why people cannot make that kind of money doing more mainstream or "socially accepted" kind of work. In Honolulu, it used to be common to have classifieds promising $1500 per week ($78,000 a year) being (allegedly) cocktail servers in Honolulu strip clubs.

$78k per year, at any one job, is a lot of money in Hawaii, male or female, at any age. I've been in university for seven years, have been a teacher for 12, and done white collar work since high school, but I'd serve cocktails, for the money alone, but instead am a nurse for less than half that. Even RNs where I come from make as little as $19 an hour, while in the San Francisco region, they can start at over $100k with the same qualifications. Unfair.

"What is so appealing about standing on your feet, making those mochas and lattes, and having men ogle you all day?"

yeah i used to be a (non-binkinified) barista and i got that shit anyway, except without the big tips. every girl at my coffee shop did. at least these women are (in theory) being compensated for working as eye candy.

I'm mostly worried that they would burn themselves. Half-nakedness + steaming hot liquids seems like a recipe for some serious pain and damage. I got plenty of burns on my hands and there were many times where very hot steam/coffee grounds/milk got on me somehow, but my torso was at least protected by my clothes.

And I agree, as a female barista, I dealt with this anyway (I think any woman who has to deal with a large cross-section of people will have to deal with this). If it had increased my measly tips (and wouldn't potentially burn me), I probably would have gone for it too.

I couldn't tell from the article but are they hiring any male servers?

I think at least part of the problem that the OP is commenting on is the persistent one sidedness of the business model of using sex to sell things other than sex itself. Remember in this case we are selling coffee. If indeed they are only using women servers, I think feminists are right on to point out the significance in terms of perceptions of female sexuality and how our desire is often marginalized, even if it's unintentional (yeah, I get it that these folks are all out trying to make a dollar).

I've seen other areas where coed stuff has been met with success such as the naked sushi thing (in L.A they offer options for both male and female models).

At any rate, Luasol, you got me thinking, so your posting did not fall on deaf ears!

I'm more irritated with the marketing of these places. I've had enough of the conflation of sexpresso/Hooters/Playboy-style stuff with "fun". There is more than one kind of fun! Just because I dislike stuff like this doesn't mean I'm a prude/boring/Humorless Feminist (tm).

Those are just some nasty steam burns waiting to happen.

"Oregon has a minimum wage law, which means the increased tips will not give the male owners cause to decrease wages only monetary increase they will see would be from increased traffic. The female employees will have the biggest wage increase due to increased tips and increase in traffic. More money going to women."

Why do you think tips are automatically increased? I had a friend who worked at Hooters, and she said the tips were extremely inconsistent and not much better than at other restaurants she had worked at, unless customers had a lot to drink. Tipping a waitress after a meal got them nothing as they still got to look at her. They tipped the way they would in any other restaurant.
When I worked in a (non bikini) ice cream shop, men would occasionally flirt with or leer at me, but there was no correlation between leering and better tips. People seem to have this idea that men will automatically tip women more if they're scantly clad or attractive, but if a man feels entitled to seeing a half naked woman, and customers in this shop will obviously expect nothing else, they're not going to tip more for fulfilling a basic expectation.

Kat: All I can do is counter your second-hand anecdotal evidence with my own first-hand anecdotal evidence.

I have worked as a server and as a barista.

When business goes up, tips go up. There will always be a constant ration of tips for every dollar spent in a given type of establishment (Bars, resturants, coffe shops all have different tips but they are generally constant). More money for the house more money in the tip jar.

From a previous statement from the owners their business in their Salem location went up by as much as $1,000 per-day when they first started this (it was originally a once a week or once a month thing).

Having not worked as a bikini barista I can't say if the average tip per dolalr spent but I do/have know/n women who have worked in similar occupations ("cocktail" waitress, stripping) where selling your sex appeal is directly related to the size of your tip.

Also, while there are not exactly a lot of great white-collar jobs in this area right now (did I mention I'm actually in Portland?) entry level tip jobs are not hard to find. If these women could earn the same w/o the bikini or more elsewhere they would take those jobs. Reading up on the other store locations most of the women stick around.

The fact that you would question my fairly obvious statements smacks of either filibuster or a lack of experience in the service industry.

Bare skin and coffee? Ow. I'm naked professionally, but I probably wouldn't do it with boiling liquids near my tender flesh.

"People seem to have this idea that men will automatically tip women more if they're scantly clad or attractive, but if a man feels entitled to seeing a half naked woman, and customers in this shop will obviously expect nothing else, they're not going to tip more for fulfilling a basic expectation." - Kat

Bingo. I actually don't foresee a rise in the average tips these women will receive. On the other hand, some coffee company will enjoy a rise in business from people who would normally not care for expensive coffee.

A coffee hooters? ugh...how progressive of them. I think it's creepy, not to mention the health and safety standards.

There are four such 'sexpressso' shops near my hometown in Washington State and I've been thinking a lot about this issue. I understand that these women are making choices about what to do with their bodies in their employment and I fully respect that and will support these women's right to make that choice. What bothers me isn't the choice that the women are making to work at these coffee stands, but rather the larger cultural attitude that allows these coffee shops to not only exist, but to flourish. These shops aren't selling lattes, they're selling these women's bodies and by selling women's bodies they're reinforcing the idea that women's bodies are objects which can be bought and sold.

Worse than that, the shops aren't selling women's bodies outright (like at a stripclub or like a prostitute does), they using the women's bodies as exotic ornamentation to draw in customers. The women in these shops aren't entertainment, they're decorations which, I think, dehumanizes them in ways that sex work does not. While sex work does play on the idea that women exist purely for men's pleasure, sex workers are granted a certain degree of agency by keeping their image as a whole human being; sex workers are humans who are seen as objects.

But to me, the 'sexpresso' shop workers are touted as objects which are objects. They're not people doing sexual things; they just are sexual and that's all they are and that's all they're meant to be. They're not people performing actions; they're decorations.

Also, as many have already said, I believe there are some serious workplace safety questions whenever people are around hot liquids with limited clothes. I worked at a fish restaurant once and we weren't even allowed to wear shorts in the kitchen. What kinds of safety measures are in place to protect these workers from burns?

Lots of good comments here already, I'll stay off my soapbox. :)

Mostly I felt bad for the (female) correspondents obliged to reports on this "breaking news." You could just see her wince when she had to say "perk up sales"...

blech.

Noah, coffee hooters is right!

"but rather the larger cultural attitude that allows these coffee shops to not only exist, but to flourish. These shops aren't selling lattes, they're selling these women's bodies and by selling women's bodies they're reinforcing the idea that women's bodies are objects which can be bought and sold."

emmakitty, exactly.

To everyone else who commented,
Interesting points of view. The risks of being burned is another good point. I forgot to mention it in my posting. I was reading a Washington article which mentioned "Health officials and state Labor and Industries officials say there are no clothing requirements for baristas". If you want to read the full article, here is the link. http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20080516/NEWS01/647107885/0/SPORTS I am surprised Washington and Oregon health departments don't have those rules. Seems to me if workers are required to get a food handlers card, wearing minimal clothing would not be allowed for safety reasons. Just my opinion.

I took the OP's comments to be "coming from the same place" as what emmakitty so successfully articulated.

I did not get the feeling that the OP was berating women for getting naked or for using sex appeal to get ahead in the workplace, but that s/he was frustrated and apalled that society at large continues to highlight women's sexual (and reproductive, in some circles) capacities in a manner that makes it hella difficult for women to get achivement-based respect in the workplace.

"The fact that you would question my fairly obvious statements smacks of either filibuster or a lack of experience in the service industry."

Or, it indicates that I misunderstood your statement as implying that bikini bar=higher tips, not more business=more tips.

"Having not worked as a bikini barista I can't say if the average tip per dolalr spent but I do/have know/n women who have worked in similar occupations ("cocktail" waitress, stripping) where selling your sex appeal is directly related to the size of your tip."

Strippers make a lot of tips for a couple of reasons. First off, many strip clubs require that customers tip the dancers in order to stay in the club. If customers does not tip, they are asked to leave. This often has to do with how the ATMs and money pooling system works in clubs, and whether or not dancers are required to pay a fee to the club. Secondly, customers in a strip club have incentive to tip, because large tips during the dance get the dancer's attention and either direct or focus towards a particular customer or encourage her to dance in a way the customer finds particularly appealing. There isn't a tip jar for customers to leave money in as they leave the club.

I was not "questioning" your "obvious" statement in order to personally attack you. I was criticizing more widespread views that perpetuate the idea that the only way or easiest way for a woman to improve her net worth and salary is to sell sex. Your statement seemed to imply a similar belief. Perhaps that was a misinterpretation. Regardless, don't be an ass.

The way I see it, if people are willing to pay me more for wearing a bikini, showing cleavage, whatever, and it's something I am comfortable with, that's their issue, not mine. I am more than willing to profit off of those who objectify me.