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My initial draw to Giuffre's research was the fact that in High School I actually waited tables, and so I felt like I might have an idea of what the research would say. As it turned out, I did have some of the same experiences as their interviewees, however I never viewed the information through their Giuffre's perspective. He points out that waitpeople are subjected to sexual harrassment every day by their customer's, and this is perceived, but tolerated due to the institutionalized nature of their position. This was what I expected.
What I didn't expect was the analysis that examined the idea that many waitpeople are subjected to the exact same harrassment by their fellow waiters and waitresses, but they don't classify these experiences as harrassment. I found it very interesting, looking back, that this was actually my experience too. I tolerated the tables of forty-something women making suggestive comments because it was a part of the job, but I never even considered "friendly" comments from some of the waitresses to be offensive. It's an interesting perspective to take on now.
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You bring up an interesting point about sexual harassment in regards to how circumstantial it really is. Depening on who says what really affects the way the comments are perceived. I think that shows just how difficult sexual harassment really is to define because there are so many variable that come into play. I too can look back at situations that I didn't consider harassment at the time, but thinking about it now definintely could be seen as sexual harassment.
ReplyDeleteI worked in a restaurant, but very briefly, and as a hostess which is far removed from the rest of the wait staff and "action". However, my boyfriend worked in restaurants for years so I became friends with his coworkers, somedays I even went in and hung around in the back with the servers next to the kitchen. I can even testify how sexualized the atmosphere is! I wonder why that is... Something about food and serving? Serving oneself, and satisfying appetites? Sounds a little sexual... but I do wonder because it is the truth! And everyones blog, who read this and also worked in food services agrees too! Maybe it is just silly banter to pass time... but, everything means something right?
ReplyDeleteI think it's interesting to get a man's perspective on sexual harassment in the food industry, especially as it was experienced at the hands of women, not other men. This dispels the myth that men are always the perpetrators of sexual harassment. To Alexandra's above comment, I don't know if there is anything inherently sexual in a food service business. It may be, though, that because the workers are engaging in lower-level, physical labor in close proximity (as opposed to sitting at a desk, interacting with a computer or telephone), their only way of passing the time is to engage with each other. And people like to talk about sex and sexual topics because it seems universal, and most people are interested in it. People's level of interest in sports, politics, and the weather may vary; because sex is so pervasive in our society, it seems acceptable to speak about it, especially with people who are "in the trenches" with you, so to speak.
ReplyDeleteStephen, do you think you experience as much/less/more sexual harassment as men of color? As women? When you have been harassed, do you find the methods different from women and men (if you've been harassed by men)?
Great discussion on this piece. I agree with luy that this is something that occurs a bit more "in the trenches", so to speak. Sexual harassment in my experience tends to happen more in blue-collar or manual labor types jobs (I too have worked in a restaurant, as well as on a farm, and it certianly exists to a certain degree in both places).
ReplyDeleteI feel like a great pop-culture reference to this is the moview Waitinig, which I just happened to watch last night. The film essentially captures the subculture of a group of people that work in a restaurant called Shenanigans, from the wait-staff to the cooks to the hostess. One big aspect of the film is this game developed by the male staff known as...I think they called it the penis-finding game essentially. Basically the guys would think of creative ways to expose themselves to the other male workers. If they succeeded in making them look at their, uh, junk, they were allowed to sexually mock and degrade them for their homosexual behaviour, even they it was they who exposed themsevles, and deliver a certain amount of kicks to the ass, depending on the delivery.
Maybe a bit of juvenile reference, sorry if this may have offended anyone, but just a rather funny, mainstream example of how pervasive sex can be in certain working environments, particularly restaurants.
By the way, the film is "Waiting", not Waitinig. Should have spellcheck first. My bad.
ReplyDeleteI actually saw "Waiting" for it's value as a deeply intelligent satire. I mean it was raunchy and gross, but accurate in it's message. If only the target audience weren't 13 year old boys waiting to see a boob, or hear Ryan Reynolds do something stupid or disgusting. I have never worked in a restaurant but after a year of working in the dining hall, I saw so much cat-calling in the kitchen towards the girls I worked with, and towards the catering women, that it shocked me. There must really be something about service that is so sexualized and power has to have something to do with it as well.
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