How Sex Appeal Has Made Hot Wings Irresistible: Hooters & Sex Discrimination

Did you know that cheerleaders can build an empire out of nothing but 1.) sex appeal, and 2.) chicken? This is exactly what the restaurant chain Hooters has done over the last 24 years. Not only do the restaurants thrive on the basis of the sex appeal of their Hooters Girls, but the Hooters concept has expanded to include such acquisitions as a 200-room Las Vegas Hooters Casino Hotel, a Hooters airline (sadly short-lived), and even a Hooters MasterCard credit card. However, even the Hooters employee handbook reveals that sex appeal is the crucial foundation upon which this company is built, and certain political protesters have charged the company with practicing a policy of sex discrimination.

Hooters vs. Winghouse

The cavalier attitude of the Hooters company with respect to its female servers is apparent in a lawsuit that it leveled against a company that unashamedly imitated the Hooters concept, Winghouse. In the ensuing court case, lawyers for Hooters claimed that the predominant function of the Hooters Girls was to "provide vicarious sexual recreation, to titillate, entice, and arouse male customers' fantasies." How, you may find yourself asking, does this relate to the product that is being sold: chicken wings?

Hooters Policies

Equality Now activitst Taina Bien-Aime is not simply exaggerating when citing that Hooters "is a place where a woman's body is really the object of the restaurant" (Source: "Despite Controversy, Hooters Prospers," by Daniel Yee). While the Hooters website claims "Hooters marketing, emphasizing the Hooters Girl and her sex appeal, along with its commitment to quality operations continues to build and contributes to the chain's success, (Ibid.)" Hooters CEO and president, Coby Brooks, lavishes praise on his staff of gorgeous female employees: "It's the girls. The girls are what we're all about," giving only secondary attention to the restaurant's food.

Who Wins?