“Feminism is an attitude, a lens through which to view the world, a collective political movement, and a way of life that is grounded in the belief that everyone is entitled to social, economic and political equity” --- Joanne Bagshaw, The Feminist Handbook

Feminism isn’t just about women being equal to men, it’s about dismantling oppressive systems that make it difficult for certain marginalized groups to gain access to resources, like jobs, physical safety, financing for a business or education. Discrimination and marginalization occur when the demographics of an industry are skewed in a way that one group is dominant. This has historically been the case in the craft beer industry.

According to the 2018 benchmarking study from the Brewers Association: 77% of brewery owners are male; 92% of production staff is male; only 8% of production managers are female; female only brewery ownership makes up only 2% of the craft beer industry.

So then the question becomes, how can we apply the tenets of feminism to become a more inclusive industry? Whether it's adopting new beer styles and innovation, dismantling the dominant patriarchal system so common to our industry, casting a wider net in our hiring practices, or fostering safer and more respectful workspaces and allowing all communities within the beer space to flourish - we should all be beer feminists.

With over a decade of experience on the business side of the beer industry and even more years on the service industry side, Julie Rhodes is an authority on beer sales, digital marketing, sales team management, and distributor partnership management. She is the owner and operator of Not Your Hobby Marketing Solutions, an educational services and business consulting company built specifically for growing craft beverage brands, where she teaches small to medium-sized beverage alcohol companies how to increase sales by learning how to work smarter, not harder. In addition to being an educator, she is also a beer business writer, public speaker, is Cicerone Certified, a chapter leader within Pink Boots Society, and a member of the BA, the North American Guild of Beer Writers, the American Cider Association, Women of the Vine & Spirits and multiple state brewery guilds.

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