Ep 353: Women in Wine and the Subtle Symphony of Quiet Misogyny

<p>This is a transcript of the first part of the podcast. The second part of the show discusses these points in more detail. </p> <p> </p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Women in Wine and the Subtle Symphony of Quiet Misogyny</strong></span></p> <p>After mulling over the various scandals in wine lately, and thinking about my position in the wine world, I have a perspective to add beyond just a social media post to call out the behavior of those in the wine business, those who have minimized the situation, and the hollow calls for change that likely won’t happen.</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>Part I: What’s in the news, and what I have seen…</strong></p> <p>If you missed it, in the past few months, a spate of “scandals” has broken out in the wine world regarding women in wine.</p> <p> </p> <p>First, it was <a href="https://timatkin.com/on-wine-bitch/">the #winebitch scandal in the United Kingdom</a>. This occurred when a well-known TV wine personality from the “Wine Show” in the UK and his cronies passed around text messages debasing young female and “softer” male wine influencers. I didn’t see these messages before they were removed from the web, but I’ve heard from those who did that the threads were raunchy, rude rants. They were also far-reaching – covering everything from the lack of value of these people’s contributions to the wine world (one could say that topic is at least ok to discuss although not in the manner raised) to criticizing their looks, children, and families (not even remotely ok).</p> <p> </p> <p>On the heels of this, an exposé in the <a href= "https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/29/dining/drinks/court-of-master-sommeliers-sexual-harassment-wine.html#:~:text=Twenty%2Done%20women%20told%20The,assaulted%20by%20male%20master%20sommeliers.&text=And%20one%20woman%20said%20she,a%20constant%20for%20women%20somms."> New York Times revealed that the highest-ranking men of the cult of Master Sommeliers</a>, as I like to call it and <a href= "https://www.winefornormalpeople.com/professional-