Pregnant women have to put up with more than their fair share of difficulties in public spaces. But one woman experienced a new indignity this month, when she was asked to leave a restaurant for wearing a cropped top that exposed her pregnant belly.
Local news reported that Charisha Gobin, a Marysville, Washington woman who was seven months pregnant with twins, was refused service at the Buzz Inn Steakhouse on the grounds that her cropped t-shirt violated their health code of the “no shirt, no shoes, no service” policy.
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According to Gobin, “The waitress/bartender stopped us and said, ‘I’m sorry, you can’t be here in that shirt.’ I said, ‘Are you being serious with me right now?’ And she said, ‘Yep, you can’t be here.’”
Gobin believes this never would have happened if she’d worn the shirt while sporting a flat belly. Instead, she believes she was targeted “just because my belly was bigger and sticking out. But had it been anyone else, I don’t think there would’ve been any problem whatsoever.”
Following the incident, Gobin drove “across town” to eat a meal at a different restaurant, where she encountered no problems with her outfit. After sharing her story along with a picture of the shirt in question, Gobin says the response has been overwhelmingly positive, with many people saying she should not have been turned away.
“I was very surprised by the response,” she said of the reactions online. “I think that says everybody pretty much agrees — I wasn’t out of bounds or out of line in any way.”
The steakhouse in question has since apologized publicly for the “misunderstanding”, but Gobin’s message is bigger than what one server does or does not deem appropriate attire.
Though she remains undeterred by the incident, she continues to draw attention to the way that women’s bodies are deemed inappropriate only if they cannot be sexualized.
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