Do you consider coffee houses with bikini wearing baristas offensive?

[Xithras]

I honestly hadn't given them much thought, but not too far from my house is a drive through coffee shop called the Bottoms Up Espresso Company. I've driven past it a few times and chucked at their signs, but never stopped in until this morning. I'd skipped Starbucks because the line at the drive thru was too long, as as I drove past this place I just thought "What the hell.."

Sexually, I'm about as open as people come, so nothing really offends me. I thought it was a bit gimmicky, but the coffee was good, the price was right, and the girl...well, she looked disturbingly similar to my 17 year old daughter, and not much older, so I can't say much other than the fact that she was pretty. There certainly wasn't any turn on factor. I drove away with my coffee thinking that it was an interesting marketing gag, but not much more.

Then I got to work. Two of my female co-workers saw the name on my coffee cup and were HORRIFIED that I'd gone there...and for totally different reasons. One saw it as an offensive display of public semi-nudity and thought that it was inappropriate to allow women "to parade themselves around like that in public". The other complained that it was demeaning to women and that "nobody who calls themselves a liberal like (I) do should even think about going somewhere like that."

Because I was done with my coffee, I dropped my cup in the trash, apologized for offending them, and walked away. I didn't feel like arguing with them, but at the same time disagreed, thinking that these young women have a right to work wherever they want and wear whatever makes them happy. If they want to sell coffee in bikinis, my only worry would be burns.

Am I being too open minded? Do most people find these coffee shops offensive? Getting it from both a conservative and a liberal was a little odd, so I'm wondering if I'm in the minority.

FWIW, I'm going back to Starbucks tomorrow.

[Lucinda]

1. It doesn't bother me at all.

Neither does Hooters.
I see it as just a marketing gimmick too.

[Aristus]

2. It kind-of bothers me. There is a bikini espresso stand on my route

to work. I've never bought coffee there. ( I buy from an excellent small local business that also makes great sandwiches). I just wouldn't feel right purchasing anything from a place like that. I'm happily married, and doing so just seems a little 'ick' to me. No judgement on you, I hasten to add. You were in a bind due to long lines.

I suppose one could argue that the ladies working there are doing so of their own free will. But it still seems exploitative to me.

[Unvanguard]

3. I don't think I would be offended by someone going there

but, yes, the practice bothers me.

I think it probably encourages a culture in which women are evaluated according to their physical attractiveness to men, rather than according to their merits or their intrinsic worth as persons.

[some guy]

4. I've never been to one.

I'd guess the guys working there look silly in their bikinis though.

[Swede]

5. Crappy coffee offends me.

It's hard to believe how hard it is to get a decent cup of coffee.

[bigwillq]

6. No (nt)

[struggle4progress]

7. I'm a guy, who enjoys seeing cute women, but objectively speaking: yeah, I think it's offensive

[denbot]

8. No.

All parties are adults, and they are free to choose to work or patronize what ever establishment they want. If given the choice between being late for work or stopping where you did, I'd stop without feeling guilty, especially if the coffee's good.

Personally I would not regulary patronize the place because I believe wife would be uncomfortable thinking I was there to ogle younger women.

[Lucian]

9. One of the cool things about being a feminist...

is that women can and should have the ability to choose where they want to work. If they choose to work in a bikini, selling coffee, who am I to say no?

[Darth_Kitten]

41. Nice that women have so many great options for work.

n/t

[Xithras]

10. Thanks for the feedback.

I've decided that I won't go there again until I have my wife in the car with me. I'll swing through the drive thru with her, and if SHE has a problem with it, I'll just avoid the place entirely in the future.

I honestly don't have any plans to go there again soon anyway (the coffee was good, but it's slightly out of my way), but I started thinking about it, and letting HER decide whether it's "acceptable" might save me some future headaches. I didn't think about that until someone else here brought her up!

My wife is a very sexually liberated woman, has no fear of nudity, and is happy to discuss the pros and cons of various types if dildoes in the right company, but I honestly don't know how she'd react to me getting coffee from thong-wearing buxom baristas half my age. She might have a thing or two to say about it :)

[mikeytherat]

11. I find it offensive in that it is stupidly dangerous - hot coffee and lots of exposed flesh

Just like the young ladies who do lawn care in bikinis. Last summer, when one of them took a flying rock to the abdomen, it was considerably more bloody, and far, far less sexy.

mikey_the_rat

[Brigid]

12. We don't have one of those places around here.

But we do have a Hooters and a Show-Me's. Put me in the "it's stupid and degrading to women" camp. I avoid such places. There are plenty of other options.

[StevesRedLens]

13. No

[NewJeffCT]

14. never heard of bikini baristas before

I don't have a big problem with it, but I wouldn't go out of my way to go there, either.

[seabeyond]

15. if there was a coffee shack on the beach with workers wearing suit, who cares. this, selling bodies

no different than a hooters. girls dress to turn men on. men go to gawk at girls.

if your wife is ok with hooters, what is the issue here. if you use hooters, no different.

these girls have the right to work in these places. as they do in strip bars, or prostituting out. it is all degress. and you haev the right to pay for it.

[PassingFair]

16. I would think less of you.

Women have had to struggle to achieve equality.

Half-naked serving girls is a big leap backwards.

Note: If the coffee shop was at the BEACH, I wouldn't
have a problem with it at all. Context is everything.


On edit: Of course, you absolutely have the right
to go there, and the "girls" absolutely have the
right to work there.

Your female co-workers also have the right to think
less of you.

[Xithras]

24. Sorry about the "girls" thing.

I should have known better, but with a 17 year old daughter I still see all of these young women as kids. Referring to women in this age group as "girls" is just a habit, and isn't meant offensively.

[Bake]

17. This thread is useless without pics ...

Just sayin' ...

:hi:

Bake

[Dr. Strange]

20. Here you go.

[eyepaddle]

21. I just knew your reply would be made out of solid win

Well played sir.

[Ikonoklast]

30. Dismemberment is too good a fate for you.

[Bake]

37. I just gouged out my eyes with a fireplace poker.

Thanks so much!

Really. Thanks.

Bake

[snooper2]

23. here you go...

[Xithras]

25. I debated whether to post pics.

I originally decided not to, but on second thought... Most people seem OK with the idea, and they're willing to work that way, so posting a pic of them on the Internet shouldn't be a bit thing. Here's a couple pix I found on Yelp and Facebook, with their normal attire. Some of there baristas wear more, some slightly less.








I'd be curious to know whether this changes any minds. It's one thing to debate exploitation as a theory, and another to see it in action. And yes...I acknowledge that it's exploitation, but that's not neccesarily a bad thing if you're a willing player and are being acceptably compensated.

[MorningGlow]

29. I'm offended by the ill-placed comma in the name

Unless the owner of the coffee shop is named Bottom.

Oh yeah--I'm also offended by the gimmick and wonder how this affects their status when it comes to discriminatory hiring practices (no guys, no "fat chicks")?

On edit: I'm also offended by the questionable adherence to health codes. :P

[Xithras]

35. I wouldn't worry about the health codes.

In this county, the Health Department doesn't start paying attention until people start dropping dead. There are a lot of counties where eateries are inspected on a regular basis, their grades are posted publicly, and where diners can readily determine how safe their food is. Stanislaus isn't one of those counties.

[chillspike]

18. Offended no. Stupid going into one? Yes.

I would not patronage them.

Why? Because it's a low-brow activity. Selling sex is the most basic gimmick anyone can think of. My attitude is, Yeah, we all get it. Woman are hot and sexy and sex appeals to a guy's most basic, mindless instinct. Can we now move on to other forms of more critical admiration and attraction?

[Iggo]

19. Nope.

[The2ndWheel]

22. Very

In fact, I'll bottle that offended rage, open up a business, and have the bikini baristas serve it to customers. A perpetual motion machine.

[Bunny]

26. I don't know if I'm offended by it, but I would consider any guy

who goes there, just to see the bikini-cald women, to be pretty skeevy. I feel the same way about Hooters, too.

[Philippine expat]

27. Bikini wearing baristas bother me a lot less

then coffee houses in general do. The majority is just over priced swill

[demgurl]

28. I think I am offended on several levels....

I am offended because I am a woman. These girls represent my gender. (I am also offended that Sarah Palin represents our gender) Women have a lot to offer and either these girls don't have enough to brains to earn a living or they just exploit their bodies. It saddens me. (more than it really offends me)

I am also offended because places like these stay in business. It really speaks to man's (I have the sex right) most basic instinct. It says that men are stupid enough that if girls are in bikinis then they will buy whatever is being sold. It makes men out to be stupid. As my husband says about Hooter's workers, "Why not get the pretense over with and just get a job at a strip bar? It is what you are heading toward anyway and you'll make better money." I agree with that.

I have visited Hooter's about two times in my life. This is only because I had a job as a mystery shopper and was evaluating their restaurants. I didn't go back a third time because their food sucks! They are selling T&A.

[Bucky]

31. Depends. How do they put creamer in the coffee?

And also, how do I stir it afterwards?

[Ikonoklast]

32. Only if they serve shitty coffee.

[guitar man]

33. Yes I do

I'd much prefer them bare assed nekkid :P

[Taverner]

34. I don't consider bikinis offensive

Granted, I would not want to pay whatever surcharge they charge, and if I want PORN then GODDAMNIT I WANT PORN!!!
!@!!

[Jackpine Radical]

36. Only if the barista

is actually Hunter S. Thompson's 300 lb. Samoan lawyer in drag.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

38. I'm offended. I think it's unsanitary.

I'm offended as a woman.
If the girls want to walk around on the beach in a bikini, I don't have a problem with it.
I wouldn't work at a place like that even if I had a good figure.

I think it's just as demeaning as Hooters. Don't they have to wear hairnets and plastic gloves when working in food service? Or do people have to drop dead before the health dept. will inspect the place?


Would I go to a place that had guys wearing Speedos serving food? No. I don't give a damn about a guy with a nice body. I would not be interested in one unless he had brains and personality as well. That's what matters. But our society is superficial and phony.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

39. dupe

dupe

[Darth_Kitten]

40. Yeah, why shouldn't all females in low-paying jobs wear bikinis?

Nothing like checking out the merchandise that's serving you. :eyes: