Female Supremacy Articles - Page 11

Screen 25 of 32

Fahrendorf knows first-hand the stereotypes that women can face when looking for a job. She recalled that many pub owners wouldn't even interview her. In l989, there was no precedent of women brewing in micobreweries. One owner asked, "Can you lift a 50-lb sack over your head?" and "Can you carry a full half barrel up a flight of stairs?" When she told the owner she could not, he told her that she couldn't interview for the job because he required those physical abilities in all his brewers.

Male or female, no one should be required to lift heavy objects over the head or hand-carry a l60-lb barrel up a flight of stairs. Such practices are an open invitation to serious injury. Fahrendorf believes, however, that the pub owners she encountered didn't know what to do with her application, because women just did not apply for brewing positions at that time.

Now the precedent has been set, and many women brew professionally. How receptive is the industry?