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N.O.W. Says No Way To Making This Restaurant Chain Family Friendly
Would you let your son wear this?
Last week, the National Organization for Women filed official complaints against a chain of local California restaurants. This time instead of objecting to women being exploited, they were concerned over a slightly more alarming matter at hand. They claim the establishment is catering to children and in effect intentionally harming them.
The California chapters of N.O.W. complained that although the San Francisco, San Bruno, Sacramento and Orange County restaurants are officially listed as adult entertainment businesses, they now accommodate children and are actively incorporating ways to entice parents to bring their children to their restaurants.
How are they doing this?
The Hooters’ restaurants are serving a children’s menu, offering booster seats and high chairs, and selling child sized t-shirts. The shirts have sayings for girls, such as “Future Hooters Girl.” For boys, bibs that say “Sorry, I Only Date Hooters’ Girls” are available.
As reported in the San Francisco Chronicle, Patricia Bellasalma, N.O.W.’s California president, asserted that Hooters is violating state and local laws prohibiting sexually oriented “adult” businesses from serving minors.
Hooters maintains that they have made a recent attempt to become more family-friendly and these new offerings are part of that effort. They also claim that their “no touching” policy is adequate in providing a decent atmosphere that is wholesome enough for children.
Call me a prude but I don’t think Hooters is any place for a child to be at, kid’s menu or not. If parents really need to patronize adult establishments, it makes sense to leave those excursions to a date night when the kids are home with a sitter.
Some say that the women who work there are dressed in uniforms (albeit tight-fitted) just as any other establishment. Yet the ambiance of the franchise is specifically geared to men who go to gawk at scantily clad, well-endowed waitresses. It seems inconsistent with teaching girls to have self- respect and teaching boys to respect women. I’m afraid that merely throwing crayons and bibs into the mix does not make an institution family-friendly.
What do you think? Would you ever take your kids to Hooters?
Image: HootersGear.com
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Bring Your Child to Hooters …Seriously? N.O.W. Says No Way! | Family Health Corner commented on Dec 20 10 at 1:11 amAmanda commented on Dec 19 10 at 11:29 pmSeriously, NFL and NBA cheerleaders dress a lot worse than Hooters girls, and I don’t hear anyone clamoring to ban kids from sitting courtside at a Lakers game.
Tara Lindis commented on Dec 20 10 at 5:24 amAbsolutely not. I find it absolutely appalling. You are right, the premise of Hooters is for men to go and gawk. If Hooters wants to really become family oriented (is this like Las Vegas and their failed attempt about a decade ago to became family friendly?) then they need to close their doors, and devise a new image and schtick. And the children’s t-shirts? Completely inappropriate. We should be teaching boys to respect women and their bodies, and teaching girls that they have far more potential than being a Hooters girl. Nothing against the women that work there, but it’s not exactly the career choice you’d want for your daughter or that you hear young girls dreaming about.
Gretchen Powers commented on Dec 20 10 at 8:18 amThis is the kind of thing that gives feminists a bad name. There are ALL kinds of women. Some are Hooters girls, some are rocket scientists, some are Hooters girls while they are in college to be rocket scientists. It’s not my thing, but I think Hooters is pretty harmless. Why not fight against child trafficking or other issues that truly hurt women in actually dire situations. Nobody is forced to work at Hooters or to eat there.
Gretchen Powers commented on Dec 20 10 at 8:23 amFurthermore, Hooters CAN teach boys and girls to respect women because you should respect people no matter what they are wearing. A gentlemen respects and treats well a woman who is scantily clad because that is the decent thing to do. Proposing that women need to cover up or dress a certain way to be deserving of respect is anti-woman and goes down the slippery slope of victim-blaming and the type of crap fundamentalist Muslims pull with the burkas and all that mess.
Sienna commented on Dec 20 10 at 10:26 amEvery parent has a different background and different beliefs. I’d have to agree with the author on this one. I would never take my two-year old to Hooters. It is somewhat degrading for the women that work there and it’s not the kind of environment I’d want to put my toddler in.
goddess commented on Dec 20 10 at 10:49 amWouldn’t take my kids there since I’ve never been there, and do not plan to patronize them. I prefer a different setting than T&A while I dine. Shrug.
Ri-chan commented on Dec 20 10 at 11:43 amI’ve been there a couple times with my husband and son and didn’t.see.anything.wrong with it. I agree with about everything GP said and also add that americans are uptight about nakedness and sexuality in general. I don’t mind my two year old seeing naked or nearly naked people at the beach, in art, etc and I certainly don’t mind at a resturant. as a bisexual female I was not excited by going there, nor was my husband. If I had to have a job I wouldn’t mind working there, and if the food was better I wouldn’t mind being a regular with my family.
jenny commented on Dec 20 10 at 12:08 pmI would never go there much less take kids. Gross.
Lauren LouAnn commented on Dec 20 10 at 2:13 pmMy dad used to take me to Hooters when I was a kid. I always thought the women looked like jazz dancers and I liked the chicken wings. Soooo not a big deal.
ALittleShort commented on Dec 20 10 at 6:42 pmHAS ANYONE HERE BEEN TO A BEACH???? CAUSE LAST I CHECKED THERE ARE WOMEN THERE IN BIKINIS AND SOME OF THEM ARE EVEN MOMS!!! I’m with what GP said earlier. If you don’t like it then don’t go there. The first time I ever went to Hooters was in TX and I went with my mom, stepdad, and younger brother who I believe was 8 at the time. There is a picture somewhere that has our waitress between me and my brother. The last time I went to Hooters was in FL, and I went with my mom and younger brother and we had a blast. They weren’t very busy, so we chatted up with the waitress for a while and she was so sweet and funny. We treated her just like we would treated anyone else in the service industry, with kindness and respect.
Also about the t-shirts for kids…those are FUNNY! and clever. Get the stick out of your butt and find some humor in it! I have seen worse baby t-shirts (www.tshirthell.com) that I also find funny. And I’m sure that if they weren’t trying to be more family friendly, you all would bitch about that too cause then it would be “the chicken wings at Hooters are fantastic. I just wish they would attempt to be more family friendly so I can go more often with my children”.
So my advice is to remove the stick from your butt and go have some chicken wings at hooters and bring the kids. The place is not that bad.
mbaker commented on Dec 21 10 at 9:09 amI have no problem with taking my son to the beach and him seeing women in bikinis or him seeing classical art depicting nudity. We wouldn’t take him to Hooters or similar places though because they encourage you to think of women just as objects for men to ogle. My dh finds the place inappropriate for children as well. It’s all about the context of the nudity/skimpy clothing.
JEssica commented on Dec 21 10 at 9:37 amI would never take my son there not because of the scantily claded women but because the food sucks! And the service is terrible. And on the moral side of the issue I want to see scantily cladded men working there as an equal oppurtunity employer and they have to maintain a level of fitness and youth. It seems all males working at Hooters are obese, old men. GROSS!
Diera commented on Dec 21 10 at 11:33 amI wouldn’t take my children to Hooters because the wings aren’t that good, and my son is old enough now to get messages I don’t approve of from it but not old enough to evaluate them in any kind of context – but I don’t think it’s an ‘adult’ venue from which all children should be barred. The waitresses are covered and they don’t do lap dances, they just bring food. I think it’s a parental call.
Kris Underwood commented on Dec 21 10 at 4:08 pmHooters family friendly? No.
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