9. The Female Breast as Brand: The Aesthetic Labor of Breastaurant Servers

Research on aesthetic labor has been confined to service encounters in private sector industries. Aesthetic labor theory is critical of the commercialism that drives management of service labor and points to the discrimination of employees on the grounds of their “looks” that this entails. Considering the common conception today of the public sector as a service provider, application of the theory of aesthetic labor is relevant to public sector service work. But the public sector has many other purposes and mechanisms than those pertaining to increased revenues that may influence the use of aesthetic labor. This paper analyzes the aesthetic labor of Danish parking attendants in an organizational ethnography. A change management process in this organization has applied the principles of aesthetic labor actively for the purposes of diversity and health and safety. The paper shows how managers apply aesthetic labor principles to promote health and safety and workforce diversity, but also that the use of aesthetics has ambivalent purposes. Aesthetic labor is not as unequivocally applied for commercial purposes as hitherto assumed.

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Emotional and social competence in the aestheticization of labor in the restaurant industry

International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management ◽

10.1108/ijchm-01-2019-0011 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 32 (3) ◽

pp. 1201-1225

Author(s):

Volkan Genc ◽

Meryem Akoglan Kozak

Keyword(s):

Social Competence ◽

Structural Equation ◽

Restaurant Industry ◽

Equation Modeling ◽

Service Encounters ◽

Achievement Orientation ◽

Content Type ◽

Aesthetic Labor ◽

Restaurant Managers ◽

The Aesthetic

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide guidance regarding the satisfaction of customer needs in the competitive restaurant industry. Restaurants have seen a transformation in employees’ labor, changing from primarily physical and mental to emotional and aesthetic dimensions. In this study, the effect of managers’ emotional and social competence (ESC) on the aesthetic labor of service and kitchen employees has been investigated. Design/methodology/approach Empirical data was collected from employees and managers of a restaurant chain. Structural equation modeling was the main analytical tool used to assess the results. Findings The findings indicated that managers’ ESC affected the aesthetic labor of their service (aesthetic traits (AT), aesthetic requirements and service encounters) and kitchen (AT, aesthetic creativity and aesthetic harmony ) employees. Achievement orientation and adaptability were among the dimensions of emotional competence that contributed the most to aesthetic labor. The most significant elements of social competence were inspiring leadership and conflict management. Practical implications The study suggests that managers can improve the aesthetic performance of their employees by using their ESC. Originality/value This is the first study of this kind to include kitchen employees while considering the effects of restaurant managers’ ESC on aesthetic labor. The findings indicate the importance of the ESC of managers in improving the aesthetic labor of employees.

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REDUCTION MAMMOPLASTY FOR BENIGN PHYLLODES TUMOUR IN AN ADOLESCENT FEMALE

10.36106/gjra/8501772 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 48-49

Author(s):

B. Santhi ◽

D. Arun ◽

Subhashini. A

Keyword(s):

Reduction Mammoplasty ◽

Adolescent Female ◽

Adolescent Women ◽

Female Breast ◽

Areola Complex ◽

Phyllodes Tumour ◽

Aesthetic Aspect ◽

Benign Tumours ◽

The Aesthetic ◽

Phyllodes Tumours

Phyllodes tumours are rare neoplasm of female breast especially among adolescent women. We present a case of 17 year old female patient present with large benign phyllodes tumour. The patient was treated with one stage excision with reduction mammoplasty. Symmetry of the breast contour and nipple areola complex position could be restored. Standard plastic surgery techniques like reduction mammoplasty might be applied in treating large benign tumours not compromising the aesthetic aspect of the breast.

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The Aesthetic Labor of Ethnographers

The Oxford Handbook of the Sociology of Body and Embodiment ◽

10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190842475.013.25 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 326-344

Author(s):

Kjerstin Gruys ◽

David J. Hutson

Keyword(s):

Body Size ◽

Academic Work ◽

The Body ◽

Power Dynamics ◽

Ethnographic Research ◽

Case Method ◽

Status Characteristic ◽

Aesthetic Labor ◽

Clothing Store ◽

The Aesthetic

This chapter uses a comparative case method, drawing on autoethnographic accounts to explore how ethnographers perform aesthetic labor across two research sites: a women’s plus-size clothing store and a coed retail gym. The authors find that they engaged in aesthetic labor as they adapted to the aesthetic expectations of sites by either blending in or sticking out. In their studies, the successful accomplishment of aesthetic labor relied primarily on gender and body size, highlighting how the body functions as a status characteristic that influences existing power dynamics. Such insights suggest the need to conceptualize ethnographic research through the lens of labor—a lens that makes clearer how academic work is structured by the same intersectional inequalities prevalent in most occupational fields.

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