The Drinks Business throws women under the bus

"Do you ever have problems in the field, because you're a woman?" So goes the oft asked question. After all, even if there are young men involved, there is an old boy network at the top. And so, I instead of telling them the truth I say, no, I get a  hard time because I'm short.

I've always felt a little guilty about not being totally honest, because I just didn't know what to say. Then, The Drinks Business came along and helped all of us  in the same boat out.

This morning they  ran an article about the 50 Most Influential Women in Wine (which in itself is unfortunate, why separate the sexes? Women are essenital to writing, marketing and making wine. This is not a tennis tournament.) To frame the story they initially chose an illustration that was simply stunning. All I can say is thank you to the editor for giving me a great fodder for future talks. When I don't know how to answer the question, I can now cite this incident by a well-read industry magazine.

I'm not sure if that is the image of a show girl or a pole dancer under glass or a pheasant, but it sure is female. She is trapped under a glass as if she were an insect in a sci-fi movie.

I remember when an a man who would have raped me in my early twenties (I had to take certain a tried and true but extremely unpleasant strategy) looked me up about a decade ago, totally clueless about what he had done.

He now lives in Japan and told me how he met his Japanese wife on the subway in New York City. He called her a princess in a glass, as that kind of good little woman, there to serve and service was called. I quickly got off the phone, and remembered our little episide and took a shower. But, never mind.

The Drinks Biz , falling under pressure of twitter outrage, changed the illustration to this.     

I like the homage to Emma Peel but they should have given her a gun to go along with the clothes.  

And now? They've gone classic, trying so hard to offend no one, but again so clueless, I almost feel sorry for them. Does anyone know if Murdoch owns them?  

 

Comments

[Sarah May]

This makes me both angry and sad. And it was fitting to find this post this morning. Last night my wine group watched "Wine From Here" and you were the only woman in the film. There must be female winemakers in CA. I guess we have a long way to go if we are only to be viewed as hypersexual beings that like wine.

[Mylittlesugarpie]

Clueless is pretty generous!

[Chrissa Chase]

It's "The Bell Jar" forced upon us.

[D]

Oh come on! The hospitality/booze industry is one place where women have a distinct advantage. I have over 20 years in the industry and have probably forgotten more about food/drink than most people will ever know for themselves. I can't count the times where I've been shot down looking for work because XYZ company 'doesn't hire males' or has their quota - which is usually 5-10 females to every one male. Granted that advantage is one that rapidly diminishes with age - ageism the other major problem in these industries - but they still have a distinct advantage nonetheless. Oh yes, and most of the marketing departments are headed up by women so you can blame men for objectifying women in these cases.