The Barmaid's Tale

At dockside nightclubs in Cape Town and Durban, barmaids fetch drinks for foreign seamen and local prostitutes. But many are also available for romantic trysts. So what are they really?: waitresses or prostitutes?

Most dockside barmaids focus on serving drinks. That's their "real" job. They get a salary for it. Plus tips.

But they can earn better tips if they actually sit with the guys, chat with them, entertain them. So a couple of clubs allow the barmaids to do double-duty: serve drinks and hang out with the sailors. She keeps the boss happy by making sure the seamen keep buying liquor. And she makes herself happy knowing that she'll get a greater tip at the end of the evening for her personal attentions.

So, if a girl want lots of money, what are the pros and cons of being a barmaid?

Pros:
* they enjoy great mobility in the club, allowing them to meet lots of guys
* they avoid hostility from the prostitutes because they're just doing their job
* they deflect the stigma of being prostitutes because they have legitimate employment
* they can pass themselves off as "normal" women to men who don't want sex with a prostitute, but a "straight" lady
* and if they're shy, they can still meet lots of men because their job makes them move around the club a lot.

Cons:
* they can't abandon their bar work to go off with a client; they have to finish their shift (or pay a R200 exit fee)
* they can't wear alluring outfits, just the boring bar uniform
* they're not always sought after for sex because the sailors think they're just barmaids, not prostitutes
* they're not supposed to drink on duty, nor dance (unless the club is empty)

But Durban and Cape Town are different. An example: In Durban, a shy pro stopped soliciting so that she could become a barmaid. She didn't like dressing up every night or having to approach men. So she donned the barmaid’s uniform: jeans, takkies, t-shirt with club logo, and a skipper’s cap. This lowered her ability to attract attention, but it allowed her to constantly meet guys. With a server’s tray in hand, she could move about, getting lots of valuable face-time with the men. And the prostitutes wouldn't bother getting jealous because it was simply her job. Though she’d usually be busy serving liquor orders, she could hint to customers that she was free afterwards.

This is a fairly typical scenario in Durban. Many women move from prostitute to barmaid. They appreciate the steady, if small, income they can earn. And they like the fact that they can still get guys every once in awhile.

But in Cape Town, the women tend to go from barmaid to prostitute. They come to the clubs as young girls, become barmaids, then realize that they prefer the freedom that the pros have. They want to work their own hours. They want the cash bonanza that comes with a sexual contract. Being a barmaid ties them down too much. So, after some months as barmaids, they switch to being full-time pros.

Where's the minis & high heels?

Dockside prostitutes in Cape Town rarely wear "sexy" clothing. They almost never wear minis, high heels or bright make-up. Rather, they sport casual androgynous streetwear: jeans, t-shirts & takkies (tennis shoes). This stands in contrast to Durban's dockside sugar girls who emphasize their sexy couture.

So why this difference? Why are Cape Town ladies more conservative in their attire than their Durban counterparts? I think there are two primary reasons. Maybe three.

1 - In Cape Town, most dockside ladies travel from their homes in the townships to the downtown nightclubs by public transport—buses, taxis, trains. They leave at 6:30 in the evening and return on the first taxis back in the mornings at 5am. The last thing they want to do is call attention to their work by wearing sexy clothing as they travel to and from their communities. It would attract negative attention and potentially reveal their source of income. So they seek to blend in by wearing casual clothing.

But in Durban, the women hail from upcountry locales, so they don't live at home. They reside in the blighted city center, surrounded by transient strangers of the shadowland. There's no community surveillance to worry about. They can wear snazzy clothing without their families or communities getting wind of their activities. Sexiness is not a threat to their reputations at home.

2 - Cape Town can get bloody cold at night, especially in the winter. The wind & low temperatures make slinky clothing a bad idea. So the ladies protect themselves with jeans, polo necks, hoodies, and heavy jackets.

But in Durban, the sub-tropical heat allows women to wear "come hither" attire most months of the year. In summertime, they almost have to wear such thin outfits because of the humidity.

3 - Another possible explanation might be the "Americanization" of fashion amongst coloured township-dwellers in Cape Town. While all South Africans are influenced to some extent by American cultural fads—in music, film, fashion, etc.—Cape coloureds seem to draw the deepest inspiration from the States. Especially from black American cultural styles. (In fact, when Cape Flats kids are allowed to wear casual clothes to school on Fridays, they call it "American Day.")

African women from KwaZulu-Natal also draw from American aesthetic influences, but not with the same commitment as coloureds do. They draw from a variety of ethnic inspirations: indigenous, pan-African, European & American.

So in Cape Town, dockside pros use clothing to camouflage their work while Durban women use it to advertise theirs. CT ladies dress warm to avoid the cold; KZN women dress lightly to deal with the heat. And coloured women embrace a casual style that fits with their community's cultural inspirations while Durban women adapt their attire to suit the competitive solicitous environment of the clubs.