Serving Consumer Expectations: Women Servers' Interpretations of Job Requirements in the Food Service Industry

The food service industry remains relatively understudied, especially in the Canadian context. However, many avenues of research exist on the labour performed by workers in this sector. In focusing on servers who rely on tips to supplement their income, this thesis explores how specific traits are commodified under management supervision to maximize corporate gain and consumer satisfaction. Utilizing aesthetic labour theory and feminist political economy with an intersectional lens, I argue that employers rely on attributes such as appearance and personality to sell the restaurant experience through the assignment of job requirements and duties. In doing so, servers become part of the product being sold. This has gendered and racialized implications. This thesis uses in-depth interviews to prioritize women servers' experiences negotiating their assigned job requirements and their observations of the gendered and racialized divisions in the food service industry.