Lydia P. Warren, a Hooters server and mixed martial artist in New Mexico, captured her response to the patron in a TikTok video with 1.3 million views on Friday.
“This guy want to come into Hooters and just take pictures of girls without asking,” Warren said to the camera before turning it on a man sitting at the bar in her restaurant. She zoomed in on the customer, wearing a red shirt and white cap, who turned toward her lens.
“So I’mma make you feel uncomfortable too. We all uncomfortable now,” declared Warren. “My flash on. We all uncomfortable now, huh?”
She captioned her footage, “Now everyone feels weird,” adding the hashtags “Do better” and “Public shame.”
Warren’s video was flooded with comments applauding the man’s karma. Some called for even further revenge.
“Find his wife TikTok,” said one viewer.
“Bro’s face turning red like his shirt,” said another commenter.
Workers in the restaurant industry have historically endured high rates of sexual harassment due to their dependence on customer tips, which forces them to tolerate inappropriate customer and supervisor behavior. But the quantity and severity of harassment worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to data from the nonprofit One Fair Wage.
A 2021 survey from Social Science Research Solutions (SRSS) found that 71 percent of women restaurant workers said they had been sexually assaulted at least once during their jobs. This is the highest percentage of any industry reporting statistics on sexual harassment, according to One Fair Wage.
The harassment can take a particularly heavy toll in “breastaurants,” or restaurants that revolve around scantily clad waitresses, such as Hooters, Twin Peaks and Tilted Kilt Pub and Eatery.
A study by University of Tennessee researchers found that “breastaurant” waitresses said they chose to work in the establishments to make higher tips and maintain flexibility in their schedules. However, they also reported a broad range of sexual harassment, including unwanted lewd comments, sexual advances, being grabbed, having pictures taken of their body parts without consent, being propositioned for sexual favors and even being stalked.
All of the surveyed workers reported negative emotions tied to these experiences, describing anxiety, anger, sadness, depression, confusion and degradation.
A second survey by the same researchers found that waitresses who worked in these restaurants were more likely to internalize cultural beauty standards and experience body shame, which heightened symptoms of depression. The more their sexual objectification increased, the less happy they were with their jobs, said the researchers.
Newsweek reached out to Warren and Hooters for comment.
