It's Complicated: A History of Women and Alcohol Relations

Sexism exists even in the field of food, and it would be strange if he did not affect the related alcohol industry. Advertising here predictably dictates "male" and "female" alcohol, and this separation is perceived by most of the audience as a matter of course and even historically verified. To demonstrate that in the alcohol industry it makes no sense to turn to this or that gender, we studied the historical aspect of the relationship between people with alcohol, modern forms of women's participation in the alcohol business, and found examples of how defective the gender-oriented approach of individual producers and advertising campaigns are.

Relationships between women and alcohol began, oddly enough, with beer - a drink that is considered masculine among the average man. However, their character was quite patriarchal: making beer, along with baking bread, was part of the duties of women of the Middle Ages (they learned to make a drink in about the 4th millennium BC). However, this occupation did not go beyond the gates of the house, since women did not have the finances necessary to open commercial breweries. At the same time, women brewed and sold "living water" of different varieties (distilled beer, wine and other alcohol for medical needs) until a witch hunt came over Europe, when a bottle of such water could serve as evidence of witchcraft.

The ability to brew alcohol was highly appreciated and then. In the newspaper advertisements of the 1700s, many were looking for wives who knew how to make alcohol, and it was also an excellent source of income: in New York in the 1850s, prostitutes earned by selling a little less than sex (2 and 3 million dollars a year ). But the connection between alcohol and prostitution could not be ignored by the guardians of morality, like the Women's Christian Union of sobriety. His striking figure was Carrie Nation, who ruined his glasses and bottles in bars with the words: "People, I came to save you from the fate of a drunkard!" These pogroms forced the bars to use the slogan "All Nations Welcome But Carrie" ("Welcome to everyone except Carrie").

During World War I, women drank as much as men. This, of course, could not be liked by religious organizations that pressed on typical “female” virtues, but great changes were already taking place in society: on February 6, 1918, Britain adopted an electoral law under which women older than 30 years received the right to vote for the first time.

During the times of Prohibition, the first women appeared - the stars of the alcohol business.

Two years later, in the USA, a prohibition was passed, which gave impetus to the illegal production and sale of alcohol - women played a significant role in this. They used the absence of the police’s right to search for women, so they hid flasks of alcohol in heels, boots and stockings, together with men drove trucks filled with liquor, and cranked multi-million purchase and sale operations. It is not surprising that it was during the times of Prohibition that the first women appeared - the stars of the alcohol business. The queen of bootleggers, Gertrude Lithgow, refused to tolerate harsh bans on alcohol, went to the Bahamas, where she opened a wholesale production of whiskey. And in 1957, the wife of the creator of the legendary whiskey came up with a name for him and a familiar bottle with a neck in red wax.

In the 1970s, few people were surprised at the desire of a woman to drink strong alcohol: more and more women become financially independent and develop a “lunch with three Martini” - a business lunch where everyone drinks along. But in 1973, scientists at the University of Washington discovered Fetal Alcohol Syndrome - a group of physical and mental birth defects caused by alcohol use during pregnancy. The study first raised the question of the influence of alcohol on women's health: before that, it was believed that pregnant women could drink as much as they wanted without consequences. Thus, another argument of dubious power was formed that women were not worthy to drink (a fair observation that not all women want to give birth, is usually ignored).

Today, alcohol is interesting to women not only as leisure - this sphere is no less attractive and promising for a career than jurisprudence, programming, and other areas that have long been considered masculine. Their participation is not limited to executive positions - at least to get up and more difficult because of the prejudices of various kinds. From the inspiring examples, Karen Fullerton, who is the ambassador of Scotch whiskey, comes to mind first - the old company is not at all embarrassed by the fact that her "male" drink is represented and developed by a woman. By the way, the popularity of whiskey among female audience is really growing: in the 1990s in the US, only 15% of women drank whiskey, and today, according to the author of the book "Whiskey woman", their number rose to 37%.

Fullerton is not the only woman involved in whiskey. Firstly, women have always been engaged in its production, having made a pause only in the second half of the 20th century. Secondly, today they feel no less comfortable. Becky Harris - co-founder of the distillery company in Virginia, Meredith Grelli in Pittsburgh, Marianne Barnes is the main taster of one of the largest producers of alcohol, and Peggy Noe Stevens is a bourbon fan and founder of Bourbon Women.

The number of women leaders in the wine industry is measured in hundreds. Regional Private and Corporate Client Manager Simple Violetta Shakhaeva believes that any kind of alcohol is by no means a male territory: "I have never encountered the division of drinks into male and female and I believe that a professional will never determine on a gender basis what to apply to table. " The founders of the UK's only accredited whiskey Ambassador training course confirm this with a deed, and "Brewer of the Year 2012" Sarah Barton notes that companies lose a lot by addressing only the male audience. The creator of the blog Whiskey Corner is trying to explain in it the same simple truth for those interested in whiskey, and Teri Farendorf with her community The Pink Boots makes it easier for women to brewing a career.

Beer advertising suggests sharing a bottle with a friend and a girl

Interesting projects are also emerging in Russia, albeit in more modest amounts. Nadezhda Danilova, for example, sells gift sets for homemade gin. "I consider myself to be a connoisseur and I introduce the public to him. Jin, like any tincture, is a field for experimentation. I can’t say that I’ve ever encountered alcohol sexism about myself, but at the bar counter I often heard orders from girls, they say, do something “for girls.” I don’t even know how I would act on the bartender’s place. ”

Advertising - one of the most indicative indicators of public sentiment - seeks to convince that alcohol is an affordable means to relax and enjoy (it’s hard to argue with that). At the same time, an advertising message often acquires a comic or degrading color depending on the audience it is directed to.

Male alcohol ads either entertain or emphasize status. It is believed that humor is best suited for promoting beer and other low-alcohol beverages among men to the conditional thirty-five. In a fun beer commercial, young people are portrayed as adventurers, originals, and pranksters, often sex-obsessed. For example, Brazilian beer manufacturers say that if the inventors of the shower curtain drank their beer, it would be smaller, the drinking fountain would be squat, and the bra would be automatic. Not without reason, a forbidden advertisement for a beer drink offers to share a bottle and a girl with friends, and a sip of another will help any student to see what is hidden under the tutu of a ballerina. Older audience trying to catch luxury.

Female alcohol advertising is trying to prove the obvious: drinking does not mean losing dignity and femininity. Attractive people come to the rescue, with whom, presumably, the audience wants to associate itself: from a cold, nameless lady to the vital Scarlett Johansson. Some beer brands believe that the secret of a successful presentation is in the entourage of a beautiful life, which, in their opinion, is the goal of customers. Other manufacturers in search of a free niche appeal to their natural concern for their figure and offer low-calorie alternatives that not only do not harm the diet, but also help to lose weight (thank you).

We admit, not that the pink bottles and sugary flavors in beer spoil the quality of life for women in Russia or anywhere else. Nevertheless, the devil is in the details, and if sexism penetrates even into such "unimportant" and non-obvious areas, this once again demonstrates how deeply it has taken root. At the global level, society still wonders: can a woman — that is, a spiritual bondage, a continuer of the lineage, the custodian of the gene pool — consume alcohol in general? A less inclined to moralizing part recognizes the right of women to relax, but with the help of "suitable" means: wine, champagne and liqueurs - but not beer or whiskey, which argue with the established image of the "correct", that is, feminine, woman. However, common sense gradually takes over stereotypes: respected alcohol companies do not see any reason not to trust women in the development of their business, and women themselves show no less interest in the industry and in products in general.

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