Confession, I have a semi love hate relationship with Women’s History Month, otherwise known as March. It is great to see a focused effort on bringing to light the stories of women who have made an impact on the world. But one month dedicated to celebrating 51% of the world’s population feels a little, well, weak. There are millions of stories of women making impacts every single day, sometimes just by existing in a world that is so hostile to our very presence.
Over the years we have covered the topic of women and mezcal from as many angles as we can. Not only is it essential to tell these stories because they are part of the story of mezcal, it is also personal, five of the six of us at Mezcalistas are women. From production to education, to sales and consumption, women are an integral part of every aspect of mezcal, as invisible as we have been at times. Ours is not a separate history, and hopefully there will be a day when our roles and accomplishments are represented for what they are, a thread like all the other threads in the fabric of humanity. Here’s a quick reading list of our coverage:
- Women – the new face of mezcal?
- Spirited women
- Are women behind the rising mezcal wave in Durango?
- Hermanas de Mayahuel launches to to support female identified people in agave spirits
- Tres Colibri Cooperative and small production mezcal
- Mezcal Carreño: from mezcal to rum to wine to back to mezcal
- Demystifying Charanda, one of Mexico’s most recognized rums
- The intersection of feminism, mezcal and economic development
- Saving mezcal is a communal effort
- Yola Dia – music, mezcal and feminism
- The feminine mezcal – musings on words and marketing
- On the mezcal road in San Luis Potosi
And, be sure to check out these interviews with some of the top female bartenders, educators and brand owners/representatives including Ivy Mix, Christine Wiseman, Cali Gold, Christina Helmer, Zule Arias, Berta Vasquez and Niki Nakazawa.
Although, I follow Mezcalistas articles, and I think they have great content, this article doesn’t clearly represents real Mezcal women. Not even closer.
Maybe just representing promoters, but what about women that works very hard under different circumstances in Mezcal villages.
Is just a thought, would be very interesting to know the point of view of that women !
This article was intended to draw attention to our coverage over the years of the involvement of women across the spectrum in mezcal (and other Mexican craft spirits. I think if you click through the linked articles you will see there are interviews and stories with women producing mezcal (Graciela Angeles, Bertha Vasquez, Martha Gomez, Sosima Aguila, Delia Vargas, Reyna Sanchez, Maria de la Luz), researchers like America Delgado, and countless other female educators, brand owners and bartenders in both Mexico and the United States. The featured picture was from our last Mexico in a Bottle event in San Diego that fell on International Women’s Day and it was a powerful moment taking that picture to see exactly how many of us there were representing mezcal at the event.