Most stories about "female bodybuilders" that arrive in my inbox turn out to be about nothing very interesting at all. As I mentioned yesterday, the term is used in very loose sense in the mainstream media. But I was definitely going to read this one.
As soon as I'd found out what a "breastaurant" was...
A breastaurant is a restaurant that has skimpily-dressed waiting staff. The term dates from the early 1990s, around the time that the chain Hooters became popular in the USA. It has since been applied to other restaurants that offer similar services. The restaurants often have a sexual double-entendre brand name and also offer specific themes, both in decoration and menu. According to Yahoo!, there are four main selling points of breastaurants: service, food, entertainment, and breasts.
Right. On with the story...
Victoria Smith is a 29-year-old fitness addict, an enthusiastic amateur bodybuilder who’s getting ready to start a job as a flight attendant later this summer. In the meantime, to earn a little extra cash, she applied to the Orlando location of the breastaurant chain 'The Tilted Kilt', where she says she was rejected because her legs were "too muscular". This is legal! Completely gross, but legal.
And here was a picture of Ms Smith, showing off her gains...
Like I said, "bodybuilder" is a term applied very loosely these days.
My first reaction was that this was outrageous. "Rejected because her legs were too muscular"! How dare they?! I'm definitely putting this on the blog, I said to myself. Discrimination on the grounds of overmuscularity! It's outrageous!!!
But as I read on, learning about how the interview basically involved Ms Smith being asked to try on skirts (the "uniform" or "kilts" of the chain's name) of ever-decreasing length in front of the interview panel - really, I'm not making this up - I gradually became less and less outraged and more and more unsympathetic. Nothing against Ms Smith personally - she turned to the gym as a means of overcoming problems with post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and anxiety, and her legs are coming along very nicely, so she should be applauded for that - but it seems to me that any woman who is prepared to put themselves through the humiliation of such an interview can hardly complain about the restaurant discriminating against them when they don't meet - for any reason - the company profile of what a "sexy" waitress should be.
Ms Smith was given a bullshit excuse for being rejected, and if you care to read the whole article, you'll see she was treated pretty poorly. But it seems to me the whole interview process for the restaurant is bullshit, and as far as I'm concerned they treat every single one of their interviewees poorly, even the ones they hire.
But the story did leave me with an idea for a post after all. A "What if...?" daydream about a restaurant - you can probably see where this is going - where the waitresses were all female bodybuilders (even if the management might have to apply the term as loosely as the mainstream media in order to find enough waitressing staff).
Muscularity would be a prerequisite for being hired, the more muscular they were, the better their chances of landing a job at our "flexaurant", where the more generous the tip, the more the waitresses will let you admire their muscular development.
Of course, staff would get regular breaks so they could have their meals - high-protein dishes from the restaurant kitchen - and there'd be a state-of-the-art staff gym at the back so they could get themselves nicely pumped before starting their shift.
Welcome to Barbelles!
Erica, our maître d', and the Regional Manager fraternising with some happy punters
Sexy and very muscular glamour all week.
Enjoy!
What a great idea...
ReplyDeleteThis would be like Schmoes Paradise...
When and where the first Barbelles Restaurant opens up?