‘Feminist’ beer launched in Brazil

A “feminist” beer has been launched in Brazil by a group of activists hoping to challenge the way women are portrayed in the male-dominated advertising industry.

As reported by The Week, the stark, minimalist labels of Cerveja Feminista feature a symbol for gender equality that combines the traditional symbols for male and female, alongside a definition of feminism.

The red ale, which, according to its makers is “malty and lightly hopped with a clean finish”, was created in a bid to challenge the way women are treated in Brazilian society and how they are portrayed in the advertising industry.

Only 10% of those working in advertising in Brazil are women, while 65% of Brazilian women do not feel represented in adverts.

“The typical Brazilian beer ad shows a semi-naked woman being harassed by men,” founder of the 65|10 activist group, Thais Fabris, told the Fast Company.

“She is either the waitress in the bar, a girl on the beach or a prize the men get for drinking that beer. The effects of the messages go way beyond driving sales, they drive behaviour,” she added.

Swedish pale ale We Can Do It, which is made by women

A red ale was chosen for the beer in order to promote gender neutrality, as dark beers are traditionally associated with men and blonde beers with women.

Meanwhile, Sweden’s first beer made by women went on sale last month. As reported by The Guardian, pale ale We Can Do It features a reinterpretation of the famous American wartime propaganda poster produced by J. Howard Millar in 1943 for Westinghouse Electric as in inspirational image to boost morale.

The poster is thought to be based on a photo taken of Michigan factory worker Geraldine Hoff and has been used to promote feminism since the ‘80s.

Gothenburg-based all-female group FemAle created the beer in a response to being patronised at festivals and being told that regular beer was “too dark and too strong” for them.

“We Can Do It is not a female beer, but a beer brewed by women that anyone can drink. It’s nothing to do with feminism, it’s about equality,” FemAle founder Elin Carlsson, told The Guardian.

The 4.6% abv We Can Do It uses three malts – Maris Otter, Amber and a Thomas Fawcett wheat malt alongside hop varieties Galaxy and Cascade.

The beer is made in collaboration with microbrewery Ocean, and FemAle has already had interest from other breweries in bespoke bottlings.

The likes of Carlsberg, Foster’s and Coors have spent millions on trying to sell beer to women via the narrow-minded “pink it and shrink it” technique.