You are What You Drink: The Masculinization of Cultural Legitimacy within the Craft Beer Scene

• In Event: 383 - Section on Consumers and Consumption Roundtables (one-hour)
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 02. Gender in Domestic and Public Spheres

Abstract

This empirical study into the masculinization of cultural legitimacy among craft beer connoisseurs joins an emergent body of connoisseur studies that has hitherto neglected the craft beer subculture. Although subcultural references to a stigma associated with “chick beer” abound, no empirical study has documented the existence of gender stereotypes associated with beer preference. Building upon Veblen’s theory of conspicuous consumption, Goffman’s theory of impression management, West and Zimmerman’s theory of “doing gender,” and Bourdieu’s theory of cultural capital, I hypothesize that a) “feminine beer” will be defined as simple, sweet, and light b) “masculine beer” will be defined as something strong and hoppy c) women’s cultural capital will increase in association with “masculine beer” and d) men’s cultural capital will decrease in association with “feminine beer.” A purposive sample of 93 patrons at four specialty craft beer bars in New York City were asked a series of questions about gender attributions and craft beer. All four of my hypotheses are confirmed. I conclude with a discussion of how this cultural conflation between masculinity and cultural legitimacy implicates the Women’s Craft Beer Movement and the production of gender scripts within this self-consciously alternative cultural scene.

Authors

• Helana Darwin, State University of New York-Stony Brook

• Michael Kimmel, State University of New York-Stony Brook