“…hey Harley?”

  “Yeah?” Harley said, leaning her head back over Julia’s couch, as the rest of the team lazed around her lounge room.

  “I just got an ad on my tablet. Have you heard of this place called…Hooters?” Julia asked, as Harley shot up excitedly.

  “Of course I have!” She let out, as Wess groaned beside her.

  “…I shouldn’t have expected better…” Wess muttered.

  “Excuse me, but what is ‘Hooters?’” Essex asked, sitting across a now very curious Sola.

  “They’re only one of the most well-established, beloved chain restaurants out there! With over 400 restaurants in 29 countries, they’re an all-in-one entertainment establishment for you and the whole family! Delicious food, drinks, non-stop sports broadcasts, and you can’t forget about the gorgeous waitstaff! It all seems so simple, it’s hard to believe nobody else ever thought of it!” Harley exclaimed.

  “…Harley, are you sponsored by them?” Julia asked, as Wess rolled her eyes.

  “Harley, isn’t that the chain that’s made a brand out of ogling the attractive women that work there?” She pointed out.

  “…yes?” Harley replied, having already opened the door to leave. “Come on! Let’s go see what all the fuss is about!”

  And so they were already there.

  “Huh? Wait, when’d we get here?” Julia asked, looking to the others, as they stood outside a Hooters. “Where are we?”

  “Hooters!” Harley let out, despite that not being what Julia meant.

  “Whoa! The screens are so big! They’re playing all kinds of sports on them!” Sola exclaimed, staring through the windows inside, as she got a wave from some of the servers in there. “And the women are so pretty!”

  She spun back around to Julia. “Julia, we have to go in there! Pretty women!”

  “I know, I-“

  “Pretty women, Julia! Lesbian solidarity!”

  “I can see the pretty women, Sola!” Julia replied, grabbing her shoulders, as Wess sighed out.

  “…fine, let’s get it over with and indulge Harley’s little fantasy. And Harley?” She said, before pointing right at her. “I’m watching you.”

  “Wess, I’m not gonna hit on the waitstaff. That’s douche behaviour.” Harley pointed out, as she opened the door and smiled. “…but if they start hitting on me, then hey, I’ll take it as it comes.”

  “Does this place contain owls?” Essex asked, pointing up at the massive Hooters sign as they walked in.

  “I don’t thi-“ Julia started, about to correct her, only for one of the servers to come up to them, beaming happily.

  “Welcome! My name’s Jenny. Can I get you guys a table?” She asked.

  Julia immediately started to get flustered, now getting a good look at the…form fitting outfits the servers were all wearing.

  “I-uhuhh-I…ye-yes…y…”

  “Yes please.” Harley intercepted, grabbing Julia’s shoulders, as Jenny showed them to a large table.

  “You guys just have a look over the menu and call me once you’re ready, okay?” Jenny let out, flashing a grin, before heading off.

  Just as she went to leave, Harley started elbowing Julia’s side.

  “Sooooooooooooooooooo?”

  “…Wess was right, this is weird…” Julia muttered, as Wess folded her arms and leaned back.

  “Oh, sweet vindication.” Wess said, as Essex grabbed a menu and Sola spoke up.

  “Hey, there’s nothing wrong with women being smoking hot ladies!” Sola pointed out. “Also, I wanna try to food while we’re here.”

  “I’m not complaining about attractive women. It’s the vibe of the place.” Wess denoted, now getting a good look at the fairly active restaurant, with several servers walking around with drinks and food. “The selling point is women showing off their ‘hooters’ at the behest of customers.”

  “Wait, that’s what Hooters means?!” Julia exclaimed, as Harley grabbed the menu from Essex.

  “Okay, how about we give it a shot and actually try the food?” Harley encouraged. “You know my philosophy, hotness should be appreciated in all forms. Whether it’s buxom women, or Hooters Original Style Wings.”

  “Ooo! I wanna try the Hooters Daytona Beach? Style Wings, tossed in their signature Daytona Beach? sauce!” Sola exclaimed.

  “Wess?” Julia asked, leaning over and whispering to her. “Are we sure they didn’t get a sponsor or something?”

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  “I don’t see any cameras.” Wess added, as Harley handed her the menu. “…Essex, what are you getting?”

  “A…‘Twisted Texas Melt,’ also served in their signature Daytona Beach? sauce, with a side of curly fries.” Essex replied, as Harley perked up.

  “I should get those too. Curly fries rule.” Harley said, as Wess closed the menu.

  “Alaskan Snow Crab Legs. I’m curious how well it’ll be prepared.” Wess retorted, as Julia looked over hers.

  “…and I’ll get…the Hooters Original Buffalo Chicken Sandwich.” Julia let out, only to notice someone standing right beside her.

  “Hi there! Are you girls being served by anyone right now?” A server asked, with the nametag ‘Thia.’

  Julia was at perfect eyelevel with…well, with her…I mean, I shouldn’t have to spell it out.

  She quickly averted her eyes, right as Jenny came back over.

  “You’re all good, Thia. I got this table.” Jenny answered, as Thia walked off. “Sorry about that. Are you girls ready to order?”

  And with that, Team Valiant spent the better part of their afternoon trying out a sizeable amount of the menu, finding not only a range in delicious flavours, but also friendly, personal service, and a laid back atmosphere that both made them feel they were somewhere special, but also, right at home.

  “I mean it, Thia. Those girls are so nice.” Jenny muttered to Thia, just off to the side as Team Valiant enjoyed their second course. “They’re probably the nicest customers I’ve gotten all month.”

  “Lucky.” Thia let out, as Jenny indicated behind her.

  “Not only that, but that girl’s already tipped me, and she’s tipping A LOT. I think she’s overcompensating for her nervousness.” She said, pointing back to Julia. “Like, the blonde one’s given me glances here and there, but that girl’s eyes have been glued on me.”

  Jenny turned back around, smiling. “I mean, not that I mind. She’s pretty cute.”

  “It’s days like this that make it all worth it, you know?” Thia said, bumping shoulders with Jenny.

  “Ain’t that the truth.”

  After letting their second course settle in their stomachs, Team Valiant took a moment to breathe, right as Harley noticed an unsettled look on Julia’s face.

  “What’s up, Julia?” Harley asked, as Julia ran her hands together. “Do you need to wash the food down with an iconic Hooters Draft Beer?”

  “…no, it’s just…this place just feels weird.” Julia admitted, as Sola leaned over the table.

  “How so?”

  “I mean, this whole place feels so demeaning. The selling point is women being exploited by wearing revealing outfits so that the customers can ogle them, with the whole restaurant’s name even referring to slang for their boobs.” Julia pointed out, as Jenny overheard her while walking by. “It just feels archaic.”

  “Fair point.” Jenny replied, stopping by their table. “A have a few friends who couldn’t even work here because they didn’t meet an arbitrary ‘attractiveness’ quota.”

  “See? That’s what I’m referring to. Truly, we could do without this.” Wess added, as Thia noticed the commotion and came over.

  “But is that so different to other industries? Models and actors are required to keep a certain level of unattainable beauty as well. How’s this any different?” Thia noted, as Essex raised a finger.

  “Doesn’t this inherently feed the male gaze?” Essex pointed out, as Harley leaned back in her seat.

  “True, most of the clientele are men, and the whole brand was founded by men. It’s not like the point is, ‘the waitstaff are pretty, but we’re here for the food,’ it’s ‘look at the jugs on that one!’ Leering’s the brand.” Harley clarified.

  “So are we saying women can’t use their looks?” Thia asked.

  “No, I think it’s about intention. Are we using our looks because we’re confident in our appearance and bodies, or is it so we get a bigger tip?” Jenny noted, as another server heard the conversation and made her way over.

  “I think a big issue’s the gender and diversity divide too.” She added, with Jenny nodding beside her. “I wouldn’t have as many problems with the implications of working here if it wasn’t only women, with very specific body types. Lift the arbitrary beauty standards and get some men in here.”

  “Oh, men in crop tops…” Harley let out, fantasising to herself, as Sola chimed up.

  “But then you’d have people complaining that Hooters isn’t the same anymore. Unfortunately, the selling point is the smoking hot ladies.”

  “Right, and while you girls have been respectful, that’s not always the case with customers.” Jenny pointed out. “I feel more comfortable with other women coming here cause, even if they’re checking me out, there’s an understanding there. I don’t feel like I’m under threat.”

  “Female solidarity.” Wess offered up. “Working in an environment like this, there’s hardly a divide between wanted and unwanted attention. You’re at the whim of the customer.”

  “And going back to Thia’s point,” Another waitstaff member said, quickly coming over. “I think we should be able to work in an environment where women can feel attractive, see themselves as attractive, and not feeling like they’re doing something wrong.”

  “Or putting down other women.” Thia added, getting unanimous agreement from the others. “That’s just another tool of the patriarchy. Define beauty standards, then divide women by said beauty standards.”

  “And it’s tough too, cause…we’ll, we’ve got to make money somehow.” Jenny added, turning to Julia. “Unfortunately, you get so little advantages as a woman, we’ve got no choice but to play to a male fantasy since they’re the ones with power. And even at a restaurant like this, that dynamic’s still there.”

  “Well, there’s an inherent connection between the patriarchy and capitalism.” Another server mentioned, as a few more joined in on the conversation. “Any system of power requires those without power to exist, and so putting down women becomes a standard practice in both.”

  “So the healthiest option would be taking back that beauty standard and letting ourselves define it. I don’t want someone else telling me whether I’m attractive or not, I know I am.” Jenny insisted, getting a ‘here here’ from the group. “Let’s finally take that pressure off of women.”

  “And can I just say, attractiveness may be arbitrary, but I think you’re all absolutely stunning.” Harley insisted, getting playful jabs from some of the servers.

  “But getting back to that connection with capitalism, I think there’s a larger point to be made about economic disparity and the role it plays in conscious and unconscious bias across societal groups.” Another server brought up, as basically the entire restaurant started to engage in the conversation. “We assume it’s built on conscious acts of malice, but often times, the ones in power aren’t even aware that their actions are the cause o…”

  ———

  “I can’t believe how quickly that conversation turned around.” Julia let out, as Team Valiant were heading home.

  “I can’t believe how quickly they all unionised.” Wess added. “Good for them.”

  “They made a lot of really good points in there.” Harley added, turning back around to the others. “And honestly, the food was actually really good.”

  “I’ll admit, it was better than I thought it would be.” Wess said, as Sola jumped forward.

  “If only we could have a society where women feel safe and confident enough to show themselves off, not for the attention of men, but because it makes them feel good about themselves and lets them express themselves and their femininity without the pressure of societal beauty standards or larger forces like the patriarchy pushing down on them.” Sola noted.

  Team Valiant all turned to each other with knowing looks, taking a moment to let the statement settle in.

  “…that would be nice.” Essex chimed in, as they made their way back home.