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Poll: Will you fly Hooters Air?
Should women fly on Hooters Air?
By DIANE GLASS
Atlanta Journal-Constitution Columnist
Diane's bio
Now that sky rage is at an all time "high," let's liquor up men and have girls prance around in hot pants. Hooters is now a discount airline ready to serve you wings and surfer girls above sea level. We've come a long way. Now we can wear tight T-shirts in the sky. One glass ceiling down, with only a few to go!
Still, Hooters does have its unlikely supporters. Hooters isn't the root of sexism or objectification my neighboring male co-worker argues confidently, as I tilt my head.
If gratuitous associations with half clad women next to a basket of wings isn't demonstrative of women as props, what is? Of course, he's right that Hooters, alone, is just another restaurant looking for a gimmick to attract patrons to spend their cash. The clientele aren't going there for the wings and they aren't reading Playboy for the articles. But when you add it up -- the gimmicks, the magazines, the comments, the skin mags -- you start to think that maybe the small things --and the small companies --do matter. Small things multiplied have an effect.
No doubt, many men (and women) will choose to fly Hooters. They choose shiny objects over safety. But no worries. This is just the Darwinian way of weeding out the weaker of the species. They have to go someway, why not die while having some hot wings and eye candy on the way down? We euthanize animals in pain, surely we can spare the mentally challenged a few blessed last moments of life.
But those of us who care to spend our money more wisely, and expend our cash for services that cater to us, there is one outstanding factor that will turn away most women: Hooters caters to men. Seventy percent of their clientele are men between the ages of 25 and 54. Clearly, Hooters know their audience. But when airlines are going under, limiting your passengers to a single demographic seems very small picture.
Women fly as frequently as men and their consumer power is often considered more influential. As a consumer, and as a woman, I won't do business with a company that doesn't keep my interests in mind. Not only does Hooters repel women by not embracing them, they insult them with stereotypes.
I'd rather lose a few dollars on a flight than sell my self respect and barter my dignity. Besides, there are other discount airlines. Airtran is still around and they don't require women to wear hot pants. Airtran is known for "delivering the best flying experience to smart travelers." Hooters air is known for "the beach girl next door" who "puts the fun back in flying." Hmm. Let me think a moment. Do I fly on a post 9/11 airline because they offer safe travel or do I fly on an airline to see women in tight T-shirts? That's a tough one -- for some.
There will always be those who need to be coddled while flying. I guess it's kind of like holding your blankie while watching a horror film.
I'll just have to pray that this too shall pass. Besides, maybe they'll go bust.
By VERNADETTE BROYLES
Vernadette's bio
"Hooters Air" -- at first I thought it was just a joke. But it's true. The owners of the Atlanta-based Hooters restaurants have created their own airline. Regular flights can be booked to Myrtle Beach and a route to Newark, New Jersey will soon be added. Owner Bob Brooks boasts that every flight will feature two "Hooters Girls" in snug T-shirts and orange hot pants who are there to "just be friendly".
Let me not mince words. Hooters -- while perhaps frequented by many a respected professional -- is utterly demeaning to women. For those who would say: "Ah come on, what's the big deal," perhaps I can provide you this word picture.
Imagine yourself trying to maintain a serious conversation with a man about a job you've applied for, a commercial real estate deal, a medical treatment, or a program for troubled kids and despite all your knowledge, preparation and articulate presentation you simply cannot get him to focus attention north of your chest. And when you turn to leave, you're departure is rewarded by a pair of eyes that only continue to travel south.
For those of us who have had that experience, every bit of respect and self-esteem you worked so hard for -- your value as a person, a wife, a mother, a professional -- is completely eclipsed by the overweening value placed on your superficial appearance. For all your education, talents and accomplishments, you feel -- because you are -- reduced to a mere object of amusement and of casual and impersonal desire.
Despite its thin veneer of respectability, this is what Hooters is all about. The unwritten byline in its marketing brand is that women are equal to the sum of our body parts. It is absolutely degrading, made all the more maddening for its relative success and acceptability. And now its owner wants to take its subliminal message to the skies.
All the more baffling is that women do eat at Hooters restaurants and will likely fly Hooters airlines. Perhaps some of us have grown so accustomed to be disrespected that we've become desensitized to it -- it no longer seems to bother us. Perhaps business necessity will overcome any sense of indignation.
Women should not allow ourselves to cooperate with the denigration of women wrought by Hooters' crass image. We need to recognize our enormous buying power in the 21st century. And as consumers, women need to demand certain basic levels of respect from service providers and from the message their marketing conveys.
At various times in this column I have railed against what I have termed modern feminism on a variety of issues. But an issue like this should bring out the "feminist" (in the purest sense of the word) in all women -- and in supportive and decent men as well. In short, women should never fly Hooters Air.
Hopefully, then, this ill-conceived venture will go out of business before it ever really gets off the ground |
