Study: ‘Breastaurant’ waitresses at greater risk of eating disorders
Waitresses who work at “sexually objectifying” restaurants like Hooters are more likely to develop eating disorders and anxiety, a new study reveals. Female servers at so-called “breastaurants” — eateries where waitresses wear revealing clothing to appeal to male customers — are at greater risk for such mental conditions because they lack the power at work to control the sexually charged environment, according to a study recently published in the Psychology of Women Quarterly.
“My research team and I noticed that some women are immersed in subcultures and settings where treating women as sex objects is not only promoted but culturally sanctioned,” the study’s author, University of Tennessee professor Dawn Szymanski, told PsyPost, a psychology news site. “And we found that working in sexually objectifying restaurant environments are not good for waitresses’ psychological health (and) were related to more anxiety and disordered eating.”
The study followed more than 250 waitresses at restaurants such as wings chain Hooters and sports lodge Twin Peaks.
Hooters — which has locations in Manhattan and Queens — features waitresses in uniforms of white tank tops and short nylon orange runner shorts.
Twin Peaks has lots of locations in the South and a few out West, but none in the Northeast. The chain’s site, which shows a photo of a server in a plaid shirt barely bigger than a bra, reads: “Here at Twin Peaks, we offer everything you crave and more. Hearty made-from-scratch comfort food, draft beer...All of this is served by our friendly and attentive Twin Peaks Girls, offering their signature ‘Girl Next Door’ charisma and playful personalities to ensure that your adventure starts at the Peak.”
In the study, servers who agreed with the statements, “In the restaurant I work, female server/waitresses are encouraged to wear sexually revealing clothing” and “male customers stare at female servers/waitresses” had higher levels of anxiety and disordered eating.
And the study revealed that women in such organizations rarely have power to change the situation.
One female participant in the study said the sexually supercharged environments are created by male supervisors.
“You need to be ‘date ready,’” one waitress said her manager told her. “You need to wear more makeup. You need to wear short shorts. You have the assets, you need to flaunt it.”
Managers at such eateries put pressure on staffers to constantly be attentive to their physical appearance — causing depression, anxiety, guilt and insecurity, according to the study.
Such pressure could also push some servers toward anorexia.
“I know a lot of (Hooters waitresses) are pageant girls and want to enter the Hooters pageant or calendar shoot, so they go on intense diets,” a waitress at the Hooters in Midtown, who asked for anonymity so she wouldn’t lose her job, told the Daily News.
Hooters did not respond to a request for comment.