Let’s hear it for the ladies:
Still being shafted by “the man” after all these years.
To say that we have come a long way, baby, is a gross understatement.
In this article, “Why Women in Wine Are Hustling to Stay Afloat,” just posted today, writer Amy Bess Cook details how women entrepreneurs, CEOs, producers, vendors, workers, and writers, in the wine business, still experience stark pay inequality and boundless funding gaps from lending institutions in comparison to their male counterparts. (counterparts?).
The reality is much worse for BIPOC women.
In addition to pay and benefits package inequality, women receive fewer promotions and opportunities for advancement than men.
When seeking business and educational or training funding in the wine sector, women across all socioeconomic classes are regularly slighted by traditional and alternative lending sources, by vast margins.
What gives, banks?
Why is it that women have to hustle so much harder than men to eke out a living in this country?
Like Ann Richards quipped about the indelible and tremendously talented Ginger Rogers, “Fred Astaire was great, but don’t forget, she did everything he did, backwards…and in heels!”
Today’s post goes hand and hand with my brutally honest post on LinkedIn last week responding to the revealing article “The Drinks Industry has an Ageism Problem,” by Besty Andrews for SevenFifty Daily, from March 21, 2022.
My post received nearly 10,000 impressions–for a reason!
People are sick of being left out of the opportunities they deserve, work tremendously hard for, and have earned.
People over 40 in the wine business have earned gainful employment in the industry they have toiled in for decades. They are overlooked in staggering numbers by recruiters and hiring managers even when they are absolutely the best candidate for the job.
Ageism, if not mitigated, will happen to everyone-so look out!
Women of all hues and backgrounds deserve equal pay, equal funding, and a safe working environment away from sexual discrimination and harassment, for the entirety of their careers.
Without women, the wine business would collapse.
We make the purchasing decisions. We drive the market. Reports show that in the UK, women make 70% of the purchases, and in the USA, it’s above 60%.
Women should be making, selling, marketing, and writing about wine. That is what the consumer wants: someone like them at the helm.
It is proven that women study harder and longer than male peers; we start more businesses, we are the primary childcare providers, and housekeepers, even when coupled, and we are healthier and live longer, in spite of it all.
We deserve a seat at the table of our choosing, for as long as we choose to be there.
We deserve equality.
It is 2022. It is time!
#womeninwine #equality #equalpay #equalfunding #equalopportunity #entrepreneur #winebusiness #womenrock @betsyandrews @amybesscook @sevenfiftydaily #wineenthusiast @winemag