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03-01-2014, 11:42
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I'm fairly sure I'm a male chauvinist. I keep it under control. I've been brought up to understand that it's not a good thing. I believe it's not a good thing. But I can't help it, it's some sort of natural instinct that makes me feel like it's not really my job to do stuff like the washing-up, or the laundry, or make the bed. I do try, but fail miserably. I will cut the grass, or check the oil level in the car. I've even had to change two light bulbs in the car this winter. That is my job, I'll not argue there.

It is down to my Mum that I understand that I'm not supposed to be a chauvinist. Most of the guilt I feel about the subject has been instilled by her and I'm quite sure I'd be a whole lot worse were it not for the way she influenced me. I do occasionally clean the kitchen1, wash-up, and I do know how to load the washing machine and turn it on.

The subject of gender and how we treat people of different genders and sexual orientations is a discussion we often have in our house. There are various reasons why it is often explored, and I think this is a good thing. Through the fog of tradition, instinct and prejudice I believe it is always important to explore and be open minded about such subjects.

My Mum drank beer. Often in pints. She wasn't afraid to take on all sorts of challenges that might have been seen as male dominated territory, should she feel the urge to do so. I don't think she ever felt it undermined her femininity. Likewise, I don't feel that seeing a woman take on a normally male dominated task or activity makes her seem less attractive in any way, shape or form.2

At a recent family get-together my daughter was taking an active interest in my nephew's Lego. The Lego toy had wheels and everything. A proper boy's Lego. My sister in-law commented that it was a boy's toy and nothing that a girl should be taking an interest in. A joke, perhaps, but it did betray what I think is an underlying cultural issue.

New Year's Eve the pub we were in was quite busy. As is the case with a proper male chauvinistic animal, my mind did wander to observing the women in the pub. Some were properly pretty. Ann doesn't believe me when I say that I take less notice of theses type of women. OK, I'm not going to lie, I recognise a really sexy body when I see one, but once my animal instincts have been brushed to one side it is the much more interesting people that catch my eye for a more in-depth analysis.

There were several women drinking beer. Mostly, but not all, by the pint. Generally they didn't actually register in the "drop dead gorgeous" category, more the "she looks interesting, I'd like to get to know her better" category. Indeed, there might be some sort of inferiority complex, perhaps even the fault of my Mum, that causes the "drop dead gorgeous" category to significantly overlap the "She's a tart, thinks she's gods gift, would be hard work even if I did stand a chance, which is unlikely" category anyway.

I suspect that I'm in a minority. I'm not talking about within the readership of this blog. I'm sure most of you think, whenever you see a woman drinking a pint, providing other thresholds have been reached, "quwoor, I'd like to get her into bed" - No, I'm sure most blokes subliminally think "Well, she seemed all right, but she is drinking beer" and move on to look at someone else.

This fact is highlighted by the brave and honest post by Ding (http://www.dingsbeerblog.com/2013/11/20/session-81-women-beer/) that I happened to stumble across. I get his points, even if I don't agree with him. I think his feelings are similar to that of most of the general public.

Equally, many women want to feel feminine. General culture in this country aligns to the idea that beer is masculine. Irrespective of what we think, many women, I believe, will not drink beer because they don't feel they will be thought of as feminine if they do. There is no reason at all to suspect they wouldn't like it, if they tried, just because they have a tiny bit more on one chromosome.

There is a potential extra danger in the beer world. I do think it is important to try and undo this sexist attitude, but we need to be careful that it doesn't seem like a feminist's fight. There is a danger that the few women that are doing a sterling job of helping to un-masculinise beer may actually drive away some of the women that are just too damn scared of beer making them appear un-feminine. Most women probably want to be thought of as feminine rather than feminists. Women who appear to want to drink beer, and telling other women to drink beer, because they have something to prove, is probably counter-productive.

I want women to drink beer and have a very good reason for wanting it. I brew beer. 50% of the population are women. Doubling the potential number of customers has to be a good thing. I really do not believe that all the women who don't drink beer wouldn't like it if they really wanted to, but they won't even give it a chance because of the masculine perception of beer.

I have no answer, other than we should all carry on as we are, promoting beer in a non-sexist way3 - I think there is a self perpetuating problem; beer is perceived as masculine, therefore it is marketed that way, because it's a waste of advertising budget to do anything else, and so it continues to be masculine. The problem is, chauvinistic and gender targeted advertising works.

In reality, most people want to be considered as the gender we are, because they want to be seen that way by the opposite sex, or perhaps by the same sex, if that's the way they feel. It's the result of billions of years of evolution, and perhaps more recently social conditioning. Separating those factors is difficult, but they are there, and to some extent, difficult to remove.

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1One of the things I miss most about not running a commercial kitchen is the fact that I no longer have kitchen staff to clean up at the end of service.

2The fact that there are tasks in our house that I prefer to do myself, rather than let Ann do them is, I believe, a different matter. We have had various arguments surrounding the subject of suitably qualified and experienced personnel. A tricky subject when I can be misconstrued. The reality is that I'd rather use the hammer drill because I've drilled more holes and I am better at it. And the hammer drill is MINE, I tell you. Besides, the washing up needs to be done, I couldn't possibly do that instead.

3 And if Hardknott are ever guilty of chauvinistic attitudes, do please let us know.



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