As if we don’t have enough problems.
The Titlted Kilt, a chain “breastaurant,” will soon be moving into the old Ruby Tuesday’s location at the Valley Mall. They will be offering beer and Irish pub food, which will be served by entertainers, not waitresses. This key word is how the Tilted Kilt and other Hooters-esque style restaurants avoid lawsuits, like the one a California woman wanted to file after being denied a job on the basis of her weight.
The Huffington Post reported that twenty year old Jennifer Rodgers made it through the “entertainer” interview process, but when time came to don the costume (another key word; it’s not a uniform), she didn’t fit into the largest size they offered. She was told she would not be able to work there.
It seems like this kind of discrimination should be illegal, but it’s not. As the Post reported, it’s illegal to discriminate against “national origin, sex, religion, race, and color,” but there is no law against body discrimination.
It’s disturbing, but even more disturbing, sexualization of women is coming to Harrisonburg. And who do you think is going to be working at the Tilted Kilt? It’s going to be girls about my age, maybe college girls or others who really need the money. They will be young, attractive women, optionless women who will be forced to put up with lustful stares throughout their entire 40 hour work week. I am not okay with that.
ShoutOut! James Madison University 
So, modify precedent to include body image?
LikeLike
I think it’s problematic to refer to the women employed at restaurants like this as “optionless.” By doing that, are we not removing them of all agency? Maybe they enjoy working in places like this. Maybe they like how much money they make. Who are we to say? Can we really just assume that anyone who works in a more sexualized job is incapable of working anywhere else?
LikeLike
This story is from forever ago in internet terms, but here goes anyhow: Would it *really* be better than this place not operate? That is, is it really so awful that the employees get a job that they might now otherwise have? I’m not about to think it terrible that some women have the opportunity to rake in big tips from men silly enough to patronize this establishment. (Whether or not these are attractive body types, or whether or not women “ought to” look any particular way aside, of course.)
They probably have plenty of other, but lower paying, options. If anything, this increases options for employment, and, though their pay, their spending options.
LikeLike
Actually I agree, I think the word “optionless” was too strong. I guess I was thinking back to an article I read about the sex industry in WMST 200 in which someone argued that choosing to work a sexualized job isn’t really a choice, since it is one that impoverished women make. Combined with my resturant experience I can see how that could be true – when I was waitressing a lot of staff came and went, but the one’s that stayed, worked hard, and put up with the daily grind of being a server were the ones that really neeed the money. Yeah, we could have gone to work somewhere else, but it would just be a new building, not a new lifestyle. Most of us didn’t have a college education or options for any kind of work outside of resturants. I am worried that women working for The Tilted Kilt will be coming from a similar perspective.
LikeLike
I think it’s a disgrace to the valley to allow such a restaurant to come here. The rate of infidelity and rape is up and then we bring something like that here? What do they think’s going to happen? I mean girls walking around flaunting almost everything they have…come on. I realize young men and women need to make money (don’t we all) but to degrade yourselves to work where your half dressed and have men pawing over you is sick. What would your parents think? I have 3 daughters and if one of them came to me and said they were going to work at a place like that I would dis-own them! I will never step foot in the Tilted Kilt and I plan on working to get rid of it!! It’s bad enough having the internet with all the perverted dating websites and now we’re going to have a restaurant that promotes sexuality! I can’t believe it…where’s the nice town I grew up in? GIRLS…have some respect for yourselves!!!
LikeLike
And a good mother would never ‘disown’ their child. Shame on you, tnov11
LikeLike