Whiskey and the women who love it

Happy Friday, feminists! Time for some booze-blogging. I’ll admit, I laughed out loud at this sexist ad circa 1990 (via):


(Here’s another from the same series.)

Then I read this post from Lauredhel about a series of offensive Jim Beam commercials in Australia. Let’s set aside, for a moment, the rank sexism and anti-gay themes in these ads, and take a broader look at how whiskey is gender-marketed. As the manliest of manly drinks. I mean, take a quick Google Image tour of whiskey/bourbon/scotch ads.

I mentioned this to my coworker and fellow whiskey-lover Phoebe today, and she pointed me to this 2006 New York Times article:

It’s been going on for years, actually. When I was in college and went out with my oversize football player boyfriend, we’d order drinks, and every time I’d be served the frosty piña colada with the pink paper umbrella that he’d ordered, and he’d be served the tough-guy Scotch-rocks that was mine.

Been there, totally.

Though I still drink Scotch periodically, at some point I switched to Maker’s Mark bourbon. These days, I order it in a tall glass to ensure that the ratio of booze to soda gives me a fighting chance of getting to the appetizer without falling out of my chair. But among some male bartenders, I’ve noticed more than a tad of residual resistance to the notion that the female of the species can drink hard liquor unadorned by grenadine or chunks of oxidizing pineapple.

A few weeks ago I settled down at the bar at Lombardi’s for
the inevitable table wait for one of those sublime pizzas and ordered
my drink. My husband ordered the same thing. I watched as the bartender
filled two tall glasses with ice. He poured bourbon into the first
glass, a healthy amount, then squirted some soda on top. In the second
glass he poured the bourbon and soda simultaneously, rendering it the
color of a weak ginger ale. Guess which one was mine?

I handed
it back. “Could you put some more bourbon in this, please?” I asked,
struggling to remain polite. Struggling back, he did just that.

To be honest, I’ve never had this problem. Or at least I’ve never
noticed. But I do have people tell me I’m “tough”
for ordering whiskey — all the time. On the merits, it’s a bit baffling. I mean, sure,
women’s bodies process alcohol differently than men’s, but whiskey is
no more potent than vodka, which is perceived as a girl-friendly
liquor. It’s clear that these comments are a symptom of old-school stereotypes and the
relentlessly male-centered marketing of whiskey, bourbon, and
scotch. I mean, looking at some of these ads, you’d think whiskey is
something on the level of Axe or Maxim — something only a douchebag could love. (Yes, I used the d-word.) Firmly in the realm of
“things for straight manly men.”

This type of shitty marketing works. I cannot tell you the number of women who have actually expressed fear at
the thought of ordering a whiskey, only to have a sip of mine and find
out they liked it. And on the flip side, I’ve been out with men who have been embarrassed to order the lavender-lemontini they really want, so they opt for a vodka tonic or whatever. This is ridiculous!

Of course, it’s not earth-shattering, deeply important stuff. But it is
a reminder about how so many little things in life are gendered. And
while I’ll admit I sometimes take pleasure in subverting the perceived
norm when I order a Jameson on the rocks, mostly I wish that I could
just order a drink I like without it being a statement about gender.

For those of you who are “of age,” what’s your drink of choice? And for you gals (and guys) who take your whiskey straight, what’s been your gender-related experience with ordering it?

Join the Conversation