Abstract
Restaurant work is a sector of the labor market that many Americans interact with, whether through being a patron or an employee. Service work accounts for a large portion of economic activity in the US. Restaurant work specifically has been feminized, on account of women being seen as a cheaper workforce starting in the 20th century. This research analyzes the intersections of gender and labor in regards to restaurant work. I investigate how emotional labor and feminization play a role in how women service workers understand they must perform to receive tips. How does feminization play into work performance (based on the perception of workers)? Are feminine tipped workers expected to perform more emotional labor? I collected data using semi-structured interviews conducted over Zoom. My argument is that the feminization of restaurant work leads women servers to perform emotional labor and alter their appearance in order to secure higher tips. Themes discovered through data analysis were gender and tipping, sexual harassment and the feminization of emotional labor. Through this research, I hope to have brought visibility to service workers and their experiences.
Advisor
Ana Perez
Committee Member
Laura Harrison
Committee Member
Paul Prew
Date of Degree
2024
Language
english
Document Type
Thesis
Degree
Master of Arts (MA)
Program of Study
Gender & Women's Studies
Department
History and Gender Studies
College
Humanities and Social Sciences
Recommended Citation
Jaxel, Ashley. (2024). “Look Good, Act Good”: Tipping, Emotional Labor and the Feminization of Restaurant Work [Master’s thesis, Minnesota State University, Mankato]. Cornerstone: A Collection of Scholarly and Creative Works for Minnesota State University, Mankato. https://cornerstone.lib.mnsu.edu/etds/1420/
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
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