WOMEN AND BEER

No so long ago I received a press release in my mailbox concerning a “Love Beer Campaign”, meant to get women to drink more beer. This campaign was launched by the brewers of Holland to increase consumption and therefore sales. But that’s not how they go about it according to the press release they want to break through the cloudy stigma of beer-drinking women.

“Women have negative associations with other beer-drinking women – think ‘unfeminine’ and ‘ unattractive/unglamorous’ – while men don’t experience it this way. Men think beer-drinking women are fun and relaxed so on that account it’s not a problem. Furthermore making the choice to order a beer depends on the ‘fun’ factor. Because “the social character is, after the taste, the main reason for men and women to drink beer.”

“the social character is, after the taste, the main reason for men and women to drink beer.”

I felt a strong opinion bubbling up when reading this press release. I love white beer, specials and beer in general, but it surprised me that a campaign was needed to get women to start drinking beer. Yes okay, they want to make more money, but I also find it very degrading and didactic. It’s biased. Men can start yelling they think it’s cool and relaxed if women drink beer, the woman on the other hand have to compensate by being very feminine, well groomed and sexy. Even if they’d never admit to this themselves. The point is you have to be a hot chick that also drinks beer. So high heels with beer, long hair with beer, big boobies with beer; that works.

In addition, why do men get a say in what a woman has to drink? That press release literally states that men’s opinion about beer-drinking women is the crucial defining factor. Bullocks! Factually the story goes like this: “ women you don’t drink beer because you think men won’t find you attractive, but no worries! We really do find it attractive that you drink beer!” It starts and ends with a man’s opinion, the man we women all naturally want to please.

Can women please choose their own drinks? And if those brewers want to make more money just make men drink more beer, that will leave more gin-tonics for us, that would be much better.