Website F.E.D. U.P with sexism in YEG restaurants and bars
U of A students hope to out offending restaurants in database
Four University of Alberta students want to place an order with restaurants and bars in Edmonton: Drop the sexist behaviour.
“It’s something we all tend to acknowledge like, ‘Ya, the serving industry is sexist — whatever,’" Tempo Sabatier told CBC's Portia Clark.
Sabatier and three classmates created a website for servers and customers to share their stories of sexism in the serving industry.
The site F.E.D.U.P. YEG (or Feminist Eatery Database — Undercover Project) began as group project for a women’s studies course the four students are taking at the University of Alberta.
“Our group was late to start, but then we had a lecture that was on gender inequality in the workplace and a lot of girls started sharing stories about horrible things they had faced while working as servers,” Sabatier said.
The group drew up surveys for customers and workers. Since then, the project has taken off, with the website getting thousands of hits a day.
A second member of the group, who still works in the industry and asked her name not be used, said she faced sexism as soon as she started working as a server when she was 15 — from customers who commented on her body to employers who demanded she dress in tighter clothing.
Men, too, are the victims of sexism, she said.
Managers prefer women working in the lounges, so male servers lose out on the better tips.
The group is hoping to gather enough stories to create a database of restaurant reviews so customers will be better informed on what goes on behind the scenes, Sabatier said.
For now, they’re happy if the site encourages an open conversation what should be and what should not be tolerated in the workplace.