From ‘Hot Fudge Bipasha’ To ‘Katrina’s Mango’, on this sexist menu, customers can choose from a list of “Item Bombs.”
In Hyderabad, the restaurant chain “Ohri’s Eatmor Coffee Shop” is synonymous with great food, drinks, and quirky decor. However, the Banjara Hills branch took sexism to another level when it decided to name milkshakes after Hollywood and Bollywood woman celebrities.
The bizarre menu has milkshakes named after so called “hot” women including Shakira and Bipasha Basu amongst others. Each of these names (Katrina’s Mango, Hot Fudge Bipasha, Sunny Freeze, etc.) takes sexism to an all new level.
To add insult to the injury, all these milkshakes are collectively grouped under the menu “Item Bombs”. A couple of weeks back a customer questioned the management and pointed out the blatant sexism behind these names. The management quickly gave out a very unconvincing disclaimer. “We celebrate womanhood and any resemblance to a person is purely coincidental.” They justified using ‘what’s in a name’ argument.
Of course, Ohri’s is not the first restaurant/cafe in the world to serve up sexism in the form of drinks. There are plenty of examples of sexist naming and women shaming alcohols and cocktails across the globe.
Almost everywhere, beer has some of the most sexist names and labels. This is strange because market research shows that women constitute an equal number of beer consumers. However, Ohri’s took this a step further, prioritizing male customers, by serving up large doses of misogyny.
This casual sexism on display is more jarring than usual because Hyderabad as a city has always been very progressive. Maybe Ohri’s doesn’t care about doing the right thing (or in this case, giving the right name to its milkshakes.) However, they need to retire these sexist labels for the sake of their own profit. Do they not have any women customers at all? Why name a milkshake something which makes at least half of your potential customers’ uncomfortable ordering?
About the Author
Namrata Sawdhvani is a doting mommy to twin boys and mistress of many trades – freelance writer, social media analyst, architect, teacher, Twitter enthusiast. An intensely family oriented person, Namrata is doing her bit to change how women are perceived, one small step at a time. She believes the world still needs to understand the full potential of women, and that motivates her to do more with her time each day.
Edited by: Dr. Shruti Kapoor