All About Beer Magazine has decided not to cover beers with names or images that “fall into poor taste,” targeting beers that they believe demean women.
The magazine states in a March editorial:
Panty Peeler. Phat Bottom. And all the unfortunate beers that use the color of a woman’s hair that also coordinate with a beer style—Blonde, Amber—and take a large bra size to create a name. … This is still a male-dominated industry, both in terms of its employees and its customers. The jocular attitude that women are somehow beneath men or simply objects, however, is something that should have been eradicated a long time ago . . . We will not be quiet about this important issue. We want to do our part so that the next generation of beer drinkers can focus on the fun, the flavorful and the future. Beers that demean women or promote rape culture will not be reviewed or promoted in this magazine or on AllAboutBeer.com.
This isn’t anything new for us. Beer names that fall into poor taste—except when newsworthy—have largely been kept out of these pages and our online reviews. We see no benefit in rewarding juvenile behavior, and often the names in poor taste were there to distract from poor beer. This is a topic we will continue to tackle—head-on—both in person and in our coverage. Demeaning or objectifying women has no place in society or on beer labels.
Except that the perception that the beer demeans women may not be accurate: as Heat Street points out:
Take, for instance, the Panty Peeler, which All About Beer magazine specifically mentioned in its editorial. It drew national attention when a Fullbright scholar accused it of promoting “rape culture.” But the beer was actually created and named by the female co-founder of Midnight Sun Brewing Co., who told Heat Street last fall that she meant it to be “consensual-sex positive.” She chose the logo as a symbol of female empowerment, a reference to Lady Godiva. As part of its marketing strategy, the brewery has encouraged its female buyers to post photos of themselves on adventures with the Panty Peeler in tow.
Heat Street notes that “Makin’ Noise: A Pussy Riot Beer” was created by antagonists of Donald Trump, and was likely meant to champion feminism.