For the month of March, and in the context of International Women’s Day on March 8, Brussels Beer City is celebrating and amplifying the voices of women work in beer in Brussels. From brewers to businesses owners, sales people and beer educators, each week we will highlight leading women in the sector - their stories, their views, and their experience as members of the city’s close-knit beer community. Kicking off the series is a first for Brussels Beer City - a guest opinion article from local guide and beer sommelier Hélène Spitaels on the need for elements of Belgium’s independent beer sector to address sexism and the marginalisation of women.

You’d think that everything has already been written about  sexist beer labels and sexism in beer, so why should you have to read  another article about it? 

Well, simply because it seems all the other ones weren’t enough. A case in point was the furore in late 2019 around the Belgian beer brand Slutte - the spark which got me and Eoghan talking about sexism in beer, and led eventually to me contributing this article to Brussels Beer City’s March 2020 series of articles drawing attention to the women working in beer in Brussels, and the issues that are important to them. 

We will definitely come back to Slutte in a second, but first a little background.

Being a feminist in a men’s world

I’ve been a feminist my whole life. Several years ago I started working in beer, following a long time with a feminist organisation. I was aware I was entering a mostly men’s world, a state of affairs which was brought home to me sarcastically by a brewer during a job interview, when he asked, “Are you going to feel comfortable?” Given my previous professional experience,  it quickly seemed logical to me not to hide my point of view, to meet fellow feminists working in beer, and to try and change things with them - because we (and when I say we I mean feminist men as well as women) are fed up with the status quo!

We are growing really tired of this lack of creativity, of this way of reducing women to selling objects to boost sales, and of hearing that we lack a sense of humour.

We are in 2020 and when it comes to advertising it sometimes feels as if nothing has changed since the 1950’s! We are still seeing naked women on labels or in suggestive outfits. We are still reading brewers defend themselves by saying that those sexist labels or names or logos are misunderstood by us. 

“A Belgian beer with body”

Slutte was a perfect example. A brand set up by a group of men from a local sports club in Brussels, the brand received unearned attention when it was awarded a medal at the World Beer Awards in 2019. Subsequently, after a number of people both in Belgium and elsewhere complained about Slutte winning a prize, the organisers acknowledged they hadn’t realised the background to the beer and committed to greater vigilance around the issue for future editions of the competition. 

And why the complaints? Despite protestations to the contrary by the owners, and a fake backstory they cooked up in an attempt to give themselves cover, the name means what you think it means. And then there’s the beer’s label - the silhouette of a women’s bum, accompanied by the tagline “A Belgian beer with body”. And when presented with complaints about the beer and its branding, what was their response? “It will probably not please everyone (...). Our idea is to glorify the beauty of our companions and mothers of our children.”. This was written to me by the people behind the Slutte beer when I told them how offended I was by their marketing choices.  

I’m not going to go over why labels like Slutte and other offenders are unacceptable. There has been enough written by other commentators in the UK and elsewhere. If you want to understand the background, go read Lily Waite, Melissa Cole, and others. What I do want to tackle here is something that was said to me by a friend: “This doesn’t concern the craft sector.”

Bollocks.

Unfortunately, just because a brewery expresses progressive values in how it does business, it is not immune to the use of sexist tropes. There are plenty of examples that show that the craft and independent breweries are sometimes incapable of distinguishing themselves from their corporate equivalents. Eoghan and others have already raised awareness about some examples in Brussels and elsewhere, but, Sadly and infuriatingly, in Belgium the list of transgressors is a long one. 

Take Millevertus, a brewery which doesn’t seem to be able to put anything else on a label other than a scantily-clad woman (where there’s a man, it’s the fully-dressed brewer). Kerel’s labels are text only, but their approach to social media is decidedly less-so. And how could we forget Sainte Nitouche Brewery with beer names meaning “woman pretending to be a prude”, its label with a winged and horned woman in her underwear, and the brewer saying, in an interview, that “this is a real madam, so a real beer, a real madam”. And it’s not as if Belgium has the sole prerogative on sexism in beer.

In France, for example, check out Des Vignes brewery with cartoon girls and explicit beer names (“La Libertine”) or La Gaillette Brewery with its fairies and unfunny punning names like “La Fée Lacion” (a wordplay on the French for “blow job”). A big round of applause to Du Haut Buëch Brewery, which designed a beer label featuring a tiny topless women being f*** by the middle finger of a large masculine hand for their Super F*** beer. They eventually  changed the label to a design featuring two white kittens. Funny isn’t it?

I’m sure there are plenty of other infamous examples but this is sufficient to demonstrate the breadth and depth of the problem in Belgium and elsewhere. In any case, pointing out this or that brewery will not solve what is essentially a structural issue in the sector.

Not really any better than Jupiler’s “Men know why”... 

Why, then, is the craft and independent sector not doing better than multinational brewers when it comes to tackling structural inequalities? Well, I think we have to face some facts. Just because someone is an independent brewer is no guarantee they value and are willing to fight for equality, that they won’t indulge in vulgarity, or that they are not a misogynist.

The consequences of living in a patriarchy are everywhere, and this is the reason why it is so difficult to dismantle. It is also why sexism in beer and its manifestations - labels, attitudes, etc. -  is not a battle of secondary importance. We have to tackle patriarchy from every possible angle, and beer is just another front.

...so what should we do?

We can’t - or shouldn’t - indulge this behaviour anymore. We have to call out every sexist act, because each one is part of a broader struggle. We shouldn’t overlook a sexist label, a misogynist comment in a brewery towards a woman, or gendered comments by a barman about beer preferences  (you know, the so-called “beer for women”). We should always speak up, explaining to brewers how they are choosing to be old-fashioned and how this can have an effect on their sales - I never buy a beer that has a sexist name or label, and I’m not the only one.

We should always avoid reasoning away or dismissing any woman (or a man) when she says that something is sexist. If even one woman finds a label, a comment, or an attitude offensive, then it’s already one too many. 

And no, women aren’t “more sensitive and that’s why they make a problem of such things.” Men (and especially white men), don’t know what it’s like to have been, and continue to be, the subject of domination for years. You don’t know what it’s like to fight oppression or marginalisation for decades only to see so little progress. You don’t know what it’s like to have to explain again and again your capabilities or your sense of humour (when so often we are told we don’t have much of either of these two things) to other people in a sector you value so much. So excuse us if, at this point, something doesn’t make us laugh and, yes, we are in fact fed up.

In 2020, it really is time for the craft and independent brewing industry to change, to be creative, and to not fall back on sexist old tricks. The sector is worth so much more than that. So show your progressive credentials and reap the benefits. You have nothing to lose, and lots to gain, no?

About Hélène

After getting a Master's degree in communication, Hélène went to work with a feminist organisation.

She lives in Brussels and has been working in beer for several years now. As an event planner, she regularly helps to organise festivals such as BxlBeerFest.

She also works with Once in Brussels as a guide and beer sommelier, and offers beer discovery or pairing sessions and breweries tours.

She is a member of Pink Boots Society and is close to the PBS Chapters in Benelux and in France. She is still an activist for women’s rights both privately and in her work.