Her Smile Ineffably is Sweet / Divinely She is Slim: On the Sexual Politics of Waitressing

 

 

I.

 

Waitressing isn't perhaps the most glamorous job in the world, but, as Mr White recognises, it's a major occupation amongst non-college graduates and the one honest job that almost any woman can fall back on when times are tough and (just about) earn a living from.

 

And, like Mr White, I agree that women serving table work hard for very little pay and fully deserve their tips (despite the fact that Mr Pink does make some valid points) [1].

 

II. 

 

What they probably don't deserve, however, is to be sexually objectified and leered at by their male customers; either in real life, or, indeed, in the world of the TV sitcom, as Moira the waitress is objectified and leered at by Bob and Terry in a second season episode of Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? 

Watching as she bends over a table in order to collect the tea cups and wipe the surface, Bob claims that whilst he could never actually cheat on his wife, Thelma, he can't help noticing other girls - including Moira and "her provocative body". 

 

Terry agrees that she does possess fantastic legs - "right up to her throat" - and have a "naughty little bum". However, later, when he gives her a suggestive wink, she tuts and looks away in disgust [2]. 

 

 

III.

 

Scenes like this - perfectly acceptable at the time, but less so now - remind one of why there was probably a need for feminist groups like the Waitresses, formed in 1977, and consisting of female artists who also worked in the service sector in Los Angeles.     

The group, active until 1985 and which eventually had over a dozen members, was co-founded by Jerri Allyn and Anne Gauldin, after Allyn, who had been working as a waitress for seven years, watched Gauldin perform a piece at the Feminist Studio Workshop in which she attempted to expose the dark side of the profession (i.e., the everyday sexism, the physical abuse, the poor working conditions and low pay, etc.).

 

The Waitresses also explored the sexualisation of women working in the service industry; how they were not just seen as common and available for exploitation, but encouraged to prostitute themselves by dressing in a sexy manner and acting flirtatiously in order to secure bigger tips from male customers [3].      

For their guerilla performances, the group created playful and provocative characters such as 'Wonder Waitress', who had come to help the harried and hassled waitresses of the world and advise them on how to unionise.

 

In 1979, the Waitresses and their supporters marched wearing waitressing uniforms in the Pasedena Doo Dah Parade, playing pots and pans instead of traditional instruments; they repeated this in 2007 to mark the 30th anniversary of the group's formation, marching in support of equal pay.   

 

 

The Waitresses marching in 1979 

Photo by Jerri Allyn

 

  

Notes

 

The title of this post is taken from a poem entitled 'Weary Waitress' by the English-born Canadian poet Robert W. Service (1874-1958): click here.  

The image by Stephen Alexander is based on a screen shot of Nova Llewellyn, as Moira, in Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? (see note 2 below).

 

[1] I'm referencing characters in Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs (1992); Mr White is played by Harvey Keitel and Mr Pink is played by Steve Buscemi. See the opening scene set in a diner: click here.

 

[2] See the series 2 episode of Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? entitled 'Between Ourselves', directed Bernard Thompson, written by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, starring Rodney Bewes as Bob Ferris and James Bolam as Terry Collier. Moira the waitress was played by Nova Llewellyn. 

      The episode, first broadcast on BBC1 on 19 March, 1974, can be watched in full on YouTube by clicking here. The relevant scenes takes place between 20:25 and 21:44.

 

[3] Some who study human sexual behaviour argue that men like to give gifts - including tips in restaurants - to attractive women for much the same reason that male birds like to share food or nesting material with potential mates. So maybe what some regard as sleazy behaviour is rooted deep in the male psyche and has a long and complex instinctual history. 

     Of course, there's always the possibility that a male customer isn't tipping in an attempt to put the waitress under an obligation that might be repaid sexually, but is simply being generous; although, as researches have also pointed out, good deeds among men tend to increase when there's even a remote chance they may get to copulate.