• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • HOME
  • NEWS+OPINIONS
    • NEWS TO US
    • COLUMNS
      • APPARENT HORIZON
      • DEAR READER
      • Close
    • LONGFORM FEATURES
    • OPINIONS
    • EDITORIAL
    • Close
  • ARTS+ENTERTAINMENT
    • FILM
    • MUSIC
    • COMEDY
    • PERFORMING ARTS
    • VISUAL ARTS
    • Close
  • DINING+DRINKING
    • EATS
    • SIPS
    • Close
  • LIFESTYLE
    • CANNABIS
      • TALKING JOINTS MEMO
      • Close
    • WELLNESS
    • GTFO
    • Close
  • STUFF TO DO
  • TICKETS
  • ABOUT US
    • 5 DOUBLE-U’S
    • MASTHEAD
    • DISTRIBUTION
    • ADVERTISE
    • SUBMISSIONS
    • PRIVACY POLICY
    • Close
  • BECOME A MEMBER

Dig Bos

The Dig - Boston's Only Newspaper

CURRENT STREET EDITION

DIG 23.02 – 1/28/21

WOMEN IN BEER: STEREOTYPES, CHALLENGES, AND VISIONS OF THE FUTURE WITH LADIES OF LOCAL BREWING

Written by KAREN CINPINSKI Posted March 26, 2015 Filed Under: Honest Pint, Honest Pint, LIFESTYLE

HP_WomenBrewers_728

More women are finding their place in the beer industry (think: brewers, sales reps, your average drinker). Still some beer brands continue to use scantily-clad women and insulting stereotypes to peddle their wares to the masses.

 

Local and national groups (see: Pink Boots Society and Boston Area Beer Enthusiasts, aka “BABES”) that host community and educational events for women working in the beer industry and craft beer fans alike help empower the female segment. However that doesn’t mean women who amass a great knowledge of beer aren’t snubbed.

 

Martha Paquette of Pretty Things Brewing
Martha Paquette of Pretty Things Brewing

Martha Holley-Paquette, assistant brewer at Somerville’s Pretty Things Beer says her biggest challenge is that people won’t take her seriously. She co-owns Pretty Things with her husband, head brewer Dann Paquette, and notes that people don’t often see past her role as wife to realize she also runs the business. “I’m often ignored in initial meetings with people in the industry. Sometimes people literally speak over me. It’s nuts,” says Paquette.

 

While the craft beer division has been making strides compared to the beer industry as a whole, there’s still a helluva lot of work to do.

 

Recent statistics suggest that women account for 25 percent of total beer consumption by volume, and 37 percent of craft beer consumption in the US. That’s up from just last year, and it has zilch to do with beer marketing’s insulting double entendres or the cringe-worthy pinkification of the product.

 

Actually, any marketing that directly targets women has bombed. Women are pushed pink, fruity, or low-calorie brews (see: Chick Beer) because they’re still predominantly viewed as non-beer drinkers.

 

Caitlin Jewell of Slumbrew Brewing
Caitlin Jewell of Slumbrew Brewing

“When ‘chick’ themed beer marketing pops up it’s quickly renounced as anti-feminist and offensive,” says Caitlin Jewell, marketing director, co-founder and co-owner of the Somerville Brewing Company. Dumbing women drinkers down to the lowest common beer denominator doesn’t validate their existence in the marketplace, and frankly, it’s incredibly patronizing. Jewell notes, “While offensive to some, bikini marketing isn’t likely to go away,” at least not instantly. “As the mother of two boys, I’m hopeful the next generation will find this approach so banal that it’ll fade away as uninteresting and irrelevant.” she says.

 

Despite the fact that certain beer brands have little understanding of their female customer base, the view from inside the industry looks decidedly more egalitarian than ever before. As the demographic of craft beer drinkers changes, more women will fill roles like head brewer or brewery owner.

 

Meghan Parisi of Wormtown Brewing
Meghan Parisi of Wormtown Brewing

Take Megan Parisi, head brewer at Worcester’s Wormtown Brewery. Parisi says she’s never experienced any form of sexism from her male peers. “[The challenges] come from the public or other folks in the industry who assume that as a woman working for a brewery, I must be in sales or marketing. There is absolutely nothing wrong with working in sales or marketing, but the fact that it never crosses their mind that I could be the brewer is the problem,” says Parisi.

 

The truth is women simply want to enjoy beer in an environment that doesn’t overtly ignore or objectify them.

 

“There really is only one way to get rid of the notion that beer is for men, and that’s for women to increase in number as beer employees and as beer drinkers,” says Paquette, “And I think that’s happening, big time. So I’m not worried about the future. I’m just a little frustrated by the present.”

KAREN CINPINSKI
More from author
  • KAREN CINPINSKI
    https://digboston.com/author/karen-cinpinski/
    ROAD AHEAD: BIG UPDATES FROM DOWN THE ROAD BREWERY
  • KAREN CINPINSKI
    https://digboston.com/author/karen-cinpinski/
    TRILLIUM SQUARED: FORT POINT-BASED BREWERY EXPANDING MEANS MORE BEER FOR YOU
  • KAREN CINPINSKI
    https://digboston.com/author/karen-cinpinski/
    CRAFT BEER BARS: DO THEY REALLY EVEN EXIST ANYMORE?
  • KAREN CINPINSKI
    https://digboston.com/author/karen-cinpinski/
    THE WEIGH IN: LOCAL BREWERS OFFER MIXED OPINIONS ON BUDWEISER ANTI-CRAFT BEER AD

Filed Under: Honest Pint, Honest Pint, LIFESTYLE Tagged With: babes, boston area beer enthusiasts society, Brewing, craft beer, feminism, feminist, pink boots society, pretty things, sexism, slumbrew, SOMERVILLE, somerville brewing company, Women, Worcester, wormtown

WHAT’S NEW

Himachal-Pradesh-6-by-CIAT-International-Center-for-Tropical-Agriculture-is-licensed-with-CC-BY-SA-2.0

CONNECTING THE DOTS: FROM THE INDIAN FARMERS’ UPRISING TO THE EFFECT NEOLIBERALISM HAS HAD GLOBALLY

GUEST OPINION: TPS HOLDERS DESERVE PERMANENT PROTECTION

GUEST OPINION: TPS HOLDERS DESERVE PERMANENT PROTECTION

STATE WIRE: NEW MASS PESTICIDE RULES MADE TO PROTECT POLLINATORS

STATE WIRE: NEW MASS PESTICIDE RULES MADE TO PROTECT POLLINATORS

Gov. Charlie Baker announces an educator vaccine program Wednesday in a WCVB screen capture.

STATE ADDS 400,000 EDUCATORS TO LIST FOR VACCINE

INBOX: JOHN BARROS LAUNCHES CAMPAIGN FOR MAYOR OF BOSTON

INBOX: JOHN BARROS LAUNCHES CAMPAIGN FOR MAYOR OF BOSTON

TRUMP GUY WINS THE DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY TO FILL DELEO’S SEAT

TRUMP GUY WINS THE DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY TO FILL DELEO’S SEAT

Primary Sidebar

HEMPIRE FREEDOM PACK 25% OFF

FEATURED EVENT

Most Popular

  • SPECIAL FEATURE ON THE MASS STATE POLICE: TROOPER WILSON’S WAR by CHRIS FARAONE
  • [UPDATE: WE GOT IT!] WHERE IS THE CONTRACT FOR MASSACHUSETTS’ VACCINE APPOINTMENT SOFTWARE? by POLINA WHITEHOUSE
  • MASS KEEPS TRYING TO BUILD A NEW WOMEN’S PRISON OUTSIDE OF PUBLIC VIEW by DAN ATKINSON
  • WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON WITH MASSACHUSETTS POLITICS AND VACCINATIONS? by ZACK HUFFMAN
  • WHY ARE HALF OF MASS CORRECTION OFFICERS REFUSING THE COVID VACCINE? by JEAN TROUNSTINE

READ CURRENT MEMBER EDITION

DIG Member 1.9 – 11/26/20

READ CURRENT STREET ISSUE

DIG 23.02 – 1/28/21

Footer

digbos

digbos
Virtual #event this #weekend. https://digboston.co Virtual #event this #weekend. https://digboston.com/zeitgeist-press-releasing-work-by-late-boston-poet-melinda-kweskin/ #reading #poetry #Boston #Massachusetts
Now, the singer and composer is aiming to take cen Now, the singer and composer is aiming to take center stage himself … https://digboston.com/video-mass-classical-musician-johan-lenox-works-with-hip-hops-top-stars/ #video #music #classical #hiphop #Massachusetts
This is my home. We don’t deserve to live in per This is my home. We don’t deserve to live in perpetual fear. https://digboston.com/guest-opinion-tps-holders-deserve-permanent-protection/ #opinion #immigration #TPS #politics #Boston #Massachusetts
“No one wants to live in a world where music is “No one wants to live in a world where music is created to please a cold-blooded algorithm.” https://buff.ly/2OmuqPR #surveillance #interview #politics #tecnology
Barros is the fifth mayoral candidate to enter the Barros is the fifth mayoral candidate to enter the race. https://buff.ly/3bj3EAW #politics #election #Boston #Massachusetts
Can a veteran of the Wisconsin Uprising and former Can a veteran of the Wisconsin Uprising and former Mass union leader rescue the IAFF? https://digboston.com/a-firefighter-election/ #labor #firefighter #union #election #opinion #WisconsinUprising #Massachusetts #national
New #report shows 1/6 of women in Mass prisons sen New #report shows 1/6 of women in Mass prisons sentenced to life without parole. https://digboston.com/commonwealth-committed-to-other-death-penalty/ #prison #prisoner #humanrights #criticism #Massachusetts
“The gratuitous militarization of police forces “The gratuitous militarization of police forces across the United States facilitated by this program has helped to turn these agencies into brutal weapons of repression.” https://digboston.com/inbox-group-calls-for-biden-to-abolish-police-militarization-program/ #police #reform #criticism #Massachusetts
It’s the second time in less than a year that pr It’s the second time in less than a year that progressives have been dealt a bitter defeat in a crowded primary race. https://digboston.com/trump-guy-wins-the-democratic-primary-to-fill-deleos-seat/ #politics #election #Democrats #primary #legislature #Winthrop #Revere  #Massachusetts #MAGA #herp #derp
As lawmakers consider Baker’s amendments to clim As lawmakers consider Baker’s amendments to climate bill, the fight for environmental justice continues. https://digboston.com/checking-in-on-the-commonwealths-comprehensive-climate-bill/ #politics #legislature #environment #activism #globalwarming #Massachusetts
Load More... Follow on Instagram
Social Buttons

DigBoston facebook DigBoston Twitter DigBoston Instagram

Masthead

About

Submissions

Advertise

Privacy Policy

Customer Service

Distribution

About Us

DigBoston is a one-stop nexus for everything worth doing or knowing in the Boston area. It's an alt-weekly, it's a website, it's an e-mail blast, it's a twitter account, it's that cool party that you were at last night ... hey, you're reading it, so it's gotta be good. For advertising inquiries: [email protected] To reach Editorial: [email protected] For internship opportunities: [email protected]