Sex sells, and in Washington State, it sells coffee, or so it seems. This growing business of bikini baristas started in Seattle but seems to be spreading across the West Coast. Washington State has over 130 drive-thru coffee stands where the baristas are dressed differently. While the garbs can range from a bikini to three strategically placed stickers, this trend normalizes nudity and promotes the objectification of women. The bikini baristas are young women who serve coffee in a sexually appealing way to its consumers. Their employment relies on two things: barista experience and sex appeal.
Names such as Cowgirls Espresso, Grabajava All Star Girls, Foxy Lady, Devil’s Brew, and many others depict women in compromising ways. When entering the official page of each company there seems to be one thing missing, the menu. These companies do not focus on their coffee; they focus on their employees who, in essence, become their product. By providing online rosters with the pictures of their employees, portraying their daily themes such as “Bikini Friday’s” or “Military Momma”, these employers promote the sexualization of women in the service industry.
This is just the surface of the bikini barista industry, their advertising in social media is what exhibits the essence of the company's “products." For example, when entering Cowgirls Espresso Facebook page what is being advertised is not the coffee, but pictures of their employees engaged in sexual positions with their names and shift of the day. The daily special is not their tall skinny latte, but their tall and skinny barista who is dressed up for Thursday's "Feisty Feline". These women are being sexualized as an incentive of lucrative opportunities for the company. Their coffee sales rate increases as their employee’s clothes decrease.
There is a double standard in this industry where according to Zagat there is only one all male bikini barista in Washington State. However, no public outrage has been issued because of the male stand. The controversy continues to stir among citizens but the business continues to grow in the West Coast. In Washington State, many women have started to file a petition in order to restrain the clothing that these women wear in public.The discussion remains in two platforms, do these women have the freedom to wear what they desire in public, or should society make them adjust to the established norms?
Many see this as a platform for women empowerment and body acceptance, while others see it as a venue for the objectification of women. The reality is that sex does sell and Washington State innovated the idea of having it sell coffee. The rise of nudity in businesses is growing around the globe. Hair Salons in Australia, Golf Courses in France, Steakhouses in NY and now coffee shops. These businesses understand the correlation between sex and profit, by uniting them to our everyday activities and satisfying their customer's guilty pleasures.
The rise of the industry is inevitable and it has started to set a new standard for profitable businesses. It is important to question what are the implications that this entails to society and how it will affect the established social norms.
