Ladies Night

Today in my gender and law class, we discussed some possible sexual harrasment situtations, based on my professor's life experiences, including whether it created a hostile environment when a bar instituted a "Ladies Chained to the Bar Drink Free Thursdays" promotion. The bartender was female, and she immediately asked to rearrange her schedule so as not to have to work on Thursdays, and was refused. I kind of went off on my own tangent about "Ladies Nights" in general, because I think that they are a horrible, horrible idea. Bar owners do not institute a "ladies drink free" policy in order to attract women, because by definition, they are not making any money off of them if they are drinking for free. The women are used as a means toward attracting men. Without going deeply into the kantian moral imperative to use others as an ends rather than a means, we can assume that using people for our own ends is generally disrespectful to them. But this is not the thrust of the argument; that lies in the reason the women are such attractive lures. My professor seemed to think that it was because the assumption is that women who need their drinks to be free are more likely to be single, without a man to take care of them and buy their drinks, and considers this sexist, as it is an assumption predicated on the idea that a woman needs a man to take care of her, and hearkens to the days of coverture. However, I do not think that men are attracted so strongly to bars where women drink free because they believe that the women will be single, as much as they are attracted because they believe that the women will be drunk. It stands to reason that if drinks are free, then it is more likely that one will drink large quantities. It is the fact that the girls are more likely to be drunk, and thus easier to manipulate and coerce, that draws men to bars holding a ladies night. Coercion, of course, being one of the grounds of rape in the state of Florida, I would argue that ladies nights not only encourage, but contribute to coercion, and therefore, to rape. Anyway, I really just wanted to organize my thoughts on that argument, so if you actually read the whole thing, I appreciate it. Peace out, and word to your mothers!