Sexual Harassment and Assault at Hooters

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Brother Eduardo on March 14, 2013 at 11:02pm

The first couple of years Hooters was open, I had lunch there now and then because it was near the place I was working. The food was good, and I met some very nice and interesting young ladies there. I can't imagine anybody stupid enough to go their to try to have a sexual liaison. But what do I know? Then their food went downhill. I mean WAY downhill. I was served food that wasn't even as good as McDonald's, which coming from me is a pretty bad insult. I blame their management for that...which means their managers have two serious faults (1) they don't know how to manage the kitchen staff to keep quality up, and (2) they don't watch out for dumbasses who sexually harass the waitresses. Hey Hooters, it's called "management." Take a couple of college courses.

Permalink Reply by EJN on March 14, 2013 at 11:46pm

Thanks for your comment, you know way more about the food than I do. Would you say that you think the main reason people pick Hooters over other restaurants is probably due to the employees ("Hooters Girl")? 

See this is one of the things I found shocking. Apparently their employee contract serves the legal purpose of making customers immune from sexual harassment charges. Similar to strip clubs, but I highly doubt most girls applying for a job at Hooters really know enough to fully consent to something like non-harassment policy. 

Permalink Reply by Steph S. on March 15, 2013 at 12:13am

I like what you had to say EJN - I have never eaten there myself.

Permalink Reply by EJN on March 15, 2013 at 12:17am

Woah so I'm not alone in never eating there before. :p

Permalink Reply by Joseph P on March 15, 2013 at 4:12am

Nope, same here.  I've never eaten at Hooters.  Their public image just turns me off, for some reason.

Permalink Reply by TNT666 on March 15, 2013 at 12:30am

I ate there 2-3 times in the 2000s, cuz a couple of males we were hanging with wanted to eat there. I feel it's a degrading place for females and would prefer not to eat there, no matter what the food quality is.

Permalink Reply by Robert Brown on March 15, 2013 at 6:49pm

I've never eaten there before either so I can't comment on the food.  I'll probably get some flack for this and maybe it is because I'm a guy that I have this opinion, but I don't see what the big deal is.  I mean why the concern about the women working at a place called Hooters having some form of sexual harassment?  Are you saying the adult women working there aren't capable of making informed decisions about what they wish to do with their lives and bodies?

Would the same concern be there if men were working at an eating establishment called  "Hot studs?" A certain type of clientelle will be attracted to a place like hooters and unless a woman is an oblivious owl lover, she should know as an adult what she is getting herself into by working in a restaurant called Hooters.

I haven't eaten there myself because I don't like the image it portrays, but I am personally against telling other adults what they should or should not do.  If an adult woman wants to work there and other people want to eat there, let them.  Why not focus the attention on sexual harassment where it shouldn't obviously be instead?

Permalink Reply by Susan Stanko on March 15, 2013 at 7:11pm

Bet you think prostitutes can't be raped either.  Seriously, working at Hooters makes it okay for a manager to pull down your shirt to look at your bra!  Or didn't you bother to actually read the OP?

Permalink Reply by Robert Brown on March 17, 2013 at 12:14am

I did read the OP.  And since this girl was telling you these things instead of a lawyer, I first assume that getting her bra checked must be in whatever working agreement they have to sign so she agreed to it and second I assume her boss is a woman since again, she was telling you about it and not a lawyer.  Because even if there is an agreement to wear certain types of undergarments, I can't imagine a woman allowing a man to pull her shirt down to check her bra rather than perhaps ask to see a strap. But I can imagine a woman doing that to another woman as I have seen very aggressive behavior between women bosses and their female counterparts.

So was the boss a woman or a man and if it was a man, are there no attorney's where this woman lives that would like to sue Hooters?

And no, I didn't say sexual harrassment cannot happen at Hooters as your hooker analogy offers.  I was saying in certain types of jobs it is almost to be expected, especially when you are objectifying yourself and the lines between appropriate behavior and inappropriate are easily blurred.

If I had the body, which I don't, and I got a job at Chippendale's as a male dancer, I would expect to be hit on and touched constantly.  And what would definitely be inappropriate touching or behavior in any regular job, would be at least common and expected if not appropriate.

 

Permalink Reply by EJN on March 17, 2013 at 1:09pm

Okay, let's use your example. Say you are working at Hot Studs, and there is a policy for what color underwear you can wear. Would it be appropriate for your manager to pull your pants down to see what color underwear you are wearing? No. That is not appropriate. There are ways of discovering what color your undergarments are without physically exposing someone yourself. A better course of action would be to let you (as a Hot Studs employee) expose the color of your underwear in a way you feel is comfortable. See the difference? One method is conforming to policy and the other method is arguably sexual assault (depending on what state or federal laws you are dealing with). 

"I haven't eaten there myself because I don't like the image it portrays, but I am personally against telling other adults what they should or should not do. If an adult woman wants to work there and other people want to eat there, let them. Why not focus the attention on sexual harassment where it shouldn't obviously be instead?" - This paragraph genuinely confused me. This is atheist nexus, I'm not trying to pass legislation. I briefly presented an experience, talked about what I thought about it, why it made me angry, and then offered solutions for moving in a direction where Hooters isn't a place of sexual objectification. I'm sorry you got an almost totalitarian tone to what I wrote, I did not intend to convey that. Also your last sentence (in the quote) about focusing on sexual harassment where it shouldn't be happening, I just don't understand what you are trying to say. Sexual harassment between an employee and boss shouldn't be happening. 

"So was the boss a woman or a man and if it was a man, are there no attorney's where this woman lives that would like to sue Hooters?" - Okay, imagine this, you are in college and Hooters is your only source of income. Now your boss of the opposite sex sexually assaults you. Do you threaten your job, education, housing situation even human essentials -- or do you just brush it off? Now, we are online, and have the advantage of not having various pressures and stressors influencing our decision, the information someone is dealing with in person -- is imperfect. People don't have the time to stop and check out state statutes, or federal acts, and often it is easier to just forget about situations like this than confront them. When your work place is stressful and damaging you don't want to spend your free time focusing on that. The emotions involved can make situations like these counter-intuitive and difficult to handle. 

The reason I didn't include the managers gender is because I didn't think it was pertinent information (and I still don't), because homosexuals exist, but irregardless the gender of someone doesn't give them some privilege to expose you? Anyways, the girl I spoke with is a female, and her manager (the one who touched her) is a male. 

Also, Robert, you should check out what criminologists and sociologists refer to as the dark figure of crime. Making the assumption that because someone is the victim in turn means that they will seek legal action -- that's just not a safe assumption. 

Permalink Reply by EJN on March 17, 2013 at 1:14pm

Well, in regards to the gender of the manager/boss, I'll clarify. You are right that the intent of the aggressor is relevant and does matter (I'm inferring that), and it could change the nature of the assault. However, instances that involved nudity or partial nudity -- have generally been categorized as sexual by nature. That's why pooping in a public area would probably get that person on a sex offenders list. 

Permalink Reply by Robert Brown on March 17, 2013 at 1:33pm

That's gross! At 40 I would think I would be mature enough to not laugh when I see pooping in a sentence, but I guess not.  Perhaps it is because I deal with my 6 and 4 year old all the time though and we make those kinds of jokes.

I couldn't imagine someone getting on a sex offenders list for defecating in public.  Maybe an indecent exposure charge along with public intoxication perhaps, but I would think it would have to be an explicit or overtly sexual act to land someone on the offenders registry.

General public nudity though like exposing oneself on purpose without the intent to use the bathroom I could see as sexual or a sexual offense.  I do not believe it is fair that it is socially acceptable for men to be topless in public and not women.  Especially considering the size of some mens breasts are larger than womens considering our obesity problems in the U.S. and elswhere.

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