20 upvotes, 1 direct replies (showing 1)
View submission: why is there a higher-than-average concentration of queer people working at cafés?
Starbucks does not represent the realities of every cafe, but nonetheless I think their customer data is telling. The primary consumers of Starbucks tend to be young, urban, college-educated and environmentally conscious--and all of these groups are historically liberal leaning. For the "why" I can only guess, but I imagine the public image of cafes as places for artsy intellectuals has something to do with it. Regardless of why cafes draw the types of crowds they do, it makes sense that businesses that attract these groups would hire staff from among their ranks. The other two examples you listed just aren't as welcoming. Retail is, well, retail, it's something everyone uses with a very diverse crowd of customers and an accordingly diverse roster of employees, and then on the other extreme by being very physically demanding work construction tends to attract very rugged, traditional burly types and has low diversity accordingly.
Comment by Distinguished- at 02/12/2024 at 06:45 UTC
14 upvotes, 0 direct replies
The reason why Cafés historically have the image of intellectualism can be traced all the way back to the "penny university" coffeehouses of the enlightenment. And in fact even further back to their origin in Ottoman coffeehouses. Before commercialisation Cafés genuinely were a place of mass social learning and teaching.