2B • THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
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SEX ON THE HILL
MONDAY,DEC.10,2001
Bar, strip club waitresses fed-up with treatment
By Louise Stauffer Kansan correspondent
The emotions in Mary Zaus' voice wavered between humor and relief as she spoke about her three-week stint as a cocktail waitress at Bada Bing. The humor was because of the brevity of her employment there, the relief was because she quit.
Zaus, former University of Kansas student, said she applied for her job at the Bing as a "joke."
"We were sitting in Chipotle eating a burrito and read an ad that said they were hiring, so we decided to check it out," she said.
She had no idea she would be leaving so quickly.
Zaus's position as a cocktail waitress entailed serving drinks to customers. However, after being hired, one night a manager announced to the customers over a microphone that Zaus and the other cocktail waitresses would do body shots with the customers.
A body shot is when someone drinks or licks their alcohol from another's body, often in suggestive places. Zaus had not been consulted about that decision, and refused to participate.
Michael Bowdre, manager of
Bada Bing, 913 N Second St., said the employee who made the announcement was no longer employed at Bada Bing, partly because of that incident.
"No cocktail waitress is required to do body shots with the customers," Bowdre said. He said the decision was up to the individual's discretion.
"Some of them want to because it helps them make more money," he said.
Zaus left Bada Bing after her third week of employment because of the body shot incident.
"After that night I just never went back," she said.
Many women who are strip club or cocktail waitresses feel they receive treatment that doesn't match their job descriptions. They say sexism and objectification are common attitudes towards those who work as waitresses in strip clubs or bars.
Women's studies lecturer Kathryn Libal said there was a question of equality for jobs in strip clubs or bars.
"The question is, at how many places are there men serving shots to a bunch of women?" Libal said. "That's definitely a
sign of the exploitation of women."
Many women who work in jobs where they are required to dress as a sex symbol said they did it for the money.
Lisa Hudson, St. Louis senior worked as a shot girl at Jack Flannigans Bar & Grill, 806 W. 24th St., from January 2000 to September 2001. Hudson said she took the job after Dannie Thompson, the manager of Flannigans, approached her at a bar and asked her to apply.
"I used the job as a means to get money, and when I got tired of it I quit." Hudson said.
She said she knew what she was getting into when she started her job at Flannigans.
"It was more funny than anything else. These guys had no idea of what or who I was outside of work."
Hudson said her job at Flannigans made her feel unappreciated by manager Thompson.
by manager.
"I was working so hard to make him money and he didn't appreciate it," she said. He knew that 1,000 girls would take my job in an instant if I left."
Working as a waitress at a bar or a strip club often requires a different work uniform than working as a waitress at a restaurant.
Zaus said Bada Bing required that all waitresses don a black skirt, white shirt and high-heels while working. Hudson said that at Flannigans she was encouraged to wear sexy, trendy clothes.
"After a while, I got tired of having to dress up every time I worked," Hudson said. "After I stopped dressing up, the tips decreased."
Flannigans owner Dannie Thompson said waitresses were hired mostly based on experience.
cense. "I want the waitresses to have an aggressive personality," Thompson said.
Scott Bentley, general manager at Emerson Biggins, 3512 Clinton Parkway, said although the name of the restaurant may have lead people to think the waitresses were hired based on looks, that wasn't the case.
"The name has nothing to do with physical attractiveness," he said. "It's a joke with us, and it always has been. We have 30 oz. beers here. Everything is bigger."
"I think it's more gender-based than anything. It's more like a sex rule," she said. "The guys are the bouncers, and the girls are the waitresses."
Misty Thomas, Wakefield sophomore and waitress at Emerson Biggins, said she didn't think waitresses were hired on looks.
Bentley said that while no male servers were employed at the restaurant, they were welcome to apply.
"We had several guy servers in Wichita," he said.
Michael Bowdre, manager of Bada Bing, said looks weren't all that mattered when he hired a waitress.
"I want a girl that knows how to sell, and that will sit down and talk to the customers," Bowdre said. "You need to have a personality because that will sell more drinks."
Bowdre said that as long as the applicant had a good personality, he would hire them.
"If you're ugly, sure, I'll give you a shot," he said.
At Jack Flannigans, a partylike atmosphere was encouraged for the employees as well as the customers. Hudson said the management encouraged the waitresses to flirt and take shots with the customers.
"If something was bought for us, they wanted us to drink it, because that was another sale."
she said.
Thompson, Flannigans owner, said drinking while working was against policy for the waitresses.
"Otherwise I would have a bunch of trashed waitresses," he said.
said.
Although Hudson said many of the other waitresses in the bar side of Jack Flammans drank and flirted with the customers, she said that wasn't her thing.
"For the other waitresses work was a party," she said. "For me it was strictly a job, but the other girls would get hammered at work every day."
Hudson said working in a job where one was valued by physical appearance above anything else made the worker easily replaceable.
"Being in a college town with a lot of young, attractive girls, it's hard. There are always girls who are willing to show more and do more," Hudson said.
Zaus also speculated that it was easy for the employers at Bada Bing to hire women.
"I think that they have a really high turnover rate," she said.
Transgendered student finds identity through friends, activities, technology
Contact Stauffer at 864-4810
KU Queers and Allies co-director to undergo physical changes soon
By Lauren Airey
Kansan correspondent
Although physically a girl, Snow refers to himself using male pronouns and considers himself a man. He is a female-to-male transsexual.
At an early age, C.J. Snow knew he was a boy. Unfortunately, his parents were still attached to the idea of having their little girl wear pink dresses
"I knew I was a boy by the second grade. In 1988, though, I knew it wasn't a cool thing to say. I didn't say it again until 14 years later," said Snow, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, freshman.
As a teen-ager, Snow presented himself as a bisexual and then a lesbian. Although his core group of friends were supportive, his high school and his family were not. He was raised in a Mormon household, and his parents did not accept his male identity.
identify. Now, his younger brother is supportive of his lifestyle, but his other brother and sister are not. Snow is not allowed contact with his nephews and recently cut off all contact with his parents.
"In high school, I told my friends that I was gay, and I had a girlfriend." Snow said. "My friends were supportive, but my parents were very much against it. They are still Mormon, and I'm not at liberty to call them my parents."
Snow arrived in Lawrence in 1907
He became involved in KU Queers and Allies, an organization for gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transsexuals. In his first year, he was the speaker bureau coordinator. Last year, Snow felt secure enough to come out as a man.
At the beginning of this semester, he was voted co-director, where he oversees subcommittees, serves as a soundboard and is on the Pride Week events committee.
Snow has received mixed reactions from students and professors since August. Many of his classes are small.
"I haven't experienced any outright discrimination, but I've had some problems with professors." Snow said. "I know that most of them intend to be respectful, but sometimes they don't remember to call me by the proper pronouns or someone will call me Miss. If they do that, I just don't respond."
To complete his transition from female to male, Snow said he hoped to have a bilateral mastectomy — where the breast tissue is removed, and the nipple size is reduced to form a male chest — before the end of next year. The surgery will cost between $4,000 and $8,000.
Because Kansas law does not require a penis to be considered legally male, Snow does not want to have penis construction surgery until the technology is more advanced.
"Penis construction can cost $50,000, and with the technology right now, I've been told that I could never experience an orgasm again. I plan on having one if I have the financial
"In high school, I told my friends that I was gay,and I had a girlfriend."
C. J. Snow Transgendered student
resources and they're safe," Snow said.
Snow is prepared to begin the physical transition from female to male in January. He will begin his testosterone injections and start going through puberty. His puberty will take about three years. As with any male puberty, Snow will experience physical changes. His friends will capture the transition on video for a personal documentary.
"My feet and hands will grow. I will grow whiskers, my voice will deepen, and I'll develop a more masculine distribution of body fat and muscle." Snow said. "My facial structure will shift so that my browline and my jaw are more defined. My metabolism will increase and my sex drive will sky-rocket."
Even without the legal recognition, Snow is secure in his identity as a man.
Snow is secure if it has only identity. "Being a man is not my only identity, but it's the only identity that I have to fight for," he said. "It's only an issue because people make it an issue."
Contact Airey at 864-4810
JAMIE ROPER/KANSAN
C. J. Snow, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, freshman, wears a figure of a person with dual sexual identities. Snow is a female to-male transsexual. "Being a man is not my only identity, but it's the only identity that I have to fight for," he said.
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