So, I know everyone remembers the main post recently about the Davenport Hooters and how they fired a girl after she couldn't work due to excessive injuries from a domestic assault.
Just thought this would be interesting.
I commented on that story saying that I went to high school with a girl who now works at that Hooters, and she always posts their bikini shoots and brags about being a Hooters girl on her Facebook.
I was interested to see on her Facebook in recent days, however, that she has second-degree burns on her upper lips from excessive tanning (which she's done all throughout high school to the point of looking almost black when she is not, and which I'm sure is continued because you can't be pale and still look beautiful! *gag*) which have caused them to blister and scab up while trying to heal.
The big non-surprising result? She isn't allowed to work until her lip is healed.
Classy.
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There are a lot of problems with Hooters as an institution and what it's done, but I think it's important to remember not to judge all of the women who chose to work their. A friend of mine used to work at Hooters; she's intelligent, religious, kind, otherwise dresses fairly conservatively, and liked working at Hooters. I think she just liked waitressing in general, as she's an outgoing person, and she was comfortable at Hooters. So while we can criticize the chain for their sexism and the beauty standards they impose on their employees, we shouldn't judge every Hooters girl as a stupid bimbo.
Sure, but it is telling that when she injured herself while engaging in an activity that would make her eligible to work there, they wouldn't let her work there.
Did Hooters tell her to get a tan to look good for her job, or was it her own idea?
I didn't judge her as a stupid bimbo. But, like Rachel in WY said, it is very interesting that after voluntarily giving herself second-degree burns from tanning, in part for her job, she is not allowed to work. And judging from her Facebook, she seems pretty proud to work there. I can't understand how someone can be proud of a job that so quickly turns on its workers.
I call B.S.
Public shaming is a symptom of something, it's not activism or "for the movement".
It could be unconscious jealousy and confusion on your part.
It's petty.
Look at the action (of posting an entry like this one) from another angle before you defend it again.
I think it's okay to critique Hooters as a workplace. They have some oppressive practices. But criticizing this employee's personal attitude and beauty work isn't productive.
I agree, but at the same time I think it's perfectly valid to question someone about those choices, particularly when their participation in an oppressive business is part of what keeps that business running, and therefore keeps it oppressing. Similarly, when someone is undergoing "beauty work" to an extent which is hazardous to their health (in this case, it sounds like she may be at serious risk of skin cancer), then I think that too should be questioned, though I would suggest in the context of a conversation, not a lecture or a "you shouldn't do that! zomg!" judgemental comment.
I think questioning and yes, criticising peoples' attitudes, both men's and women's, toward gender and image is a very important part of feminism and ensures that people think about gender equality in their everyday lives, rather than just be like "well I like working there, so it's OK." People do need to be aware of the wider implications of their personal choices, and I think drawing attention to that for them is OK, particularly within the context of a 1-on-1 chat.
Public shaming, on the other hand, or mocking or teasing of their choices, is completely unhelpful to the cause, IMHO.
I agree - it's right to criticize Hooters for that corporation's institutionalized sexism.
But it's wrong to criticize Hooters servers as individuals - even the ones who, thanks in large part to society-wide internalized sexism - are proud that they fit well enough into White American beauty standards to work there.
It's unfair and a cheap shot to go after the "Hooters girls" - but it's absolutely appropriate to attack the Hooters corporation and the businesspeople who run it.
Wow. Did you just post on a feminist forum to dis a female you knew (and possibly had competitive issues with?) in high school?
Really?
wow.
Her lips are burnt, and your fingers are typing gossip.
I often wondered just that when I was in my women's classes in University as a Canadian Spanish woman- I'm not a Latina, but I would have expected to hear more about Latina points of view and seen more actual Latinas in my class than I did. It's not like there aren't any Latinas in Montreal, in fact the Latin population in Montreal seems to be growing, I can literally hear it bedroom furniture when I go out. There is Gloria Anzaldua though.