Waitress with revealing clothes may suffer anxiety disorders

New York, July 18 (IANS) Women working in bars and restaurants where they are required to be scantily clad may experience higher levels of anxiety and disordered eating, according to a new study.

The study found that female servers in these types of restaurants -- dubbed as "breastaurants" because they feature scantily clad servers -- felt that they had less power and control at work which had detrimental effect on their psychological health.

These restaurants put women's sexuality on display and sanction men's supposed right to stare at and visually scrutinise female servers' bodies and judge their physical appearance and sexual desirability.

"We want to raise awareness about the negative impact that these types of restaurant environments may have on female servers," said lead author Dawn Szymanski, Professor at the University of Tennessee in the US.

"Our study extends current research by investigating how [these restaurants] may be associated with mental health outcomes beyond depression," Szymanski added.

Previous research found that working in "breastaurants" affected a women's emotional well-being. They experienced negative emotions including sadness, anxiety, degradation, anger, insecurity, confusion and guilt.

For the study, published in the journal Psychology of Women Quarterly, the team surveyed 252 female servers, aged 18 to 66, who work in a variety of US restaurants.

"We want the public to use this data in personal decisions about whether to support or not support these types of restaurants," Szymanski said.

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