So, what do you do when you're feeling the crunch, when you've worked for 8 hours straight on a Sunday to try and get caught up, and you still aren't caught up? I find that drinking helps. Just kidding. Maybe. Okay, so drinking probably isn't a great idea unless you're absolutely finished with all your school work, so I decided to write a little blog post and share some pictures that I took when researching my gender paper. You know, distract myself in a productive-ish way.
The thesis of my gender paper was that hard liquors like whiskey and bourbon are marketed with men in mind, while wines and sweet drinks are targeted toward women, so I needed to do research, right? I trotted off to City-Wide Liquors downtown to take some pictures of different types of bottles to see if I was right (and also just because I like looking at all the different labels). It turns out, I was semi-correct
in my thesis. All of the whiskey bottles were definitely targeted at men, with their plain, monotone, and for the most part, boring labels. I do like the name "Death's Door," though, and Harrison is my nephew's name, so YAY. The wines were in large part marketed for female consumers, with feminine names and colors and artwork that appeals to women, but as I walked through City-Wide's extensive collection, I realized that the drier wines usually had more masculine labels than the sweeter wines.
While I took a ton of pictures, I'll just share some of my favorite wine labels with you. For the most part the ones that were my favorites weren't the most feminine choices.
I love the artwork of the one at the left, it's just so cute! I love th
e lady's pin-up style, and that the man is stepping on her foot. Adorable. This is a bottle I'd buy just for the label. Admit it, you do that sometimes, too, right?The one at right caught my eye because it's just so different from any other label I've ever seen on a wine bottle. It's kind of creepy, like maybe if you drink this one, you'll be transported to a scary circus run by half-monsters who breathe fire and eat babies.
The one calle
d "Bitch" really caught my eye. I could picture it filling the shopping cart of a maid of honor who's planning a bridal shower or bachelorette party. I imagine it being drunk out of pink, bedazzled goblets by 22-year-old women wearing penis-shaped earrings. They'r
e laughing and yelling at each other obnoxiously, and of course they're calling each other "bitch" and "whore."I love, love, love the one at right. The colors are just so vivid, and it looks like a poster one may have seen decades ago, advertising the rodeo that was coming to town. From the font to the image, whoever put together this label did an excellent job.
This one at left I loved for its simplicity. The label tells us that it's rare and special, something reserved for only true fans. The B side is a sweet surprise.So which one did I take home? This one at right, Phantom. It wa
s one of the first bottles I looked at, and it had a spooky little story on the back. Something about going downstairs into a dark basement all alone and feeling like there was someone there waiting for you. It was fairly good, but had a strange aftertaste...a phantom flavor, if you will.All in all, a fun trip to the liquor store. Also, just so's ya know, the City-Wide on Jefferson holds free wine (and sometimes beer and mead) tastings every Thursday from 5-7 pm. All you need to bring is your I.D. If you like wine, you won't be disappointed. The labels that share their products are always very knowledgeable about their libations. My estimate is that you'll come away from it with a total of two glasses of wine in your gut, and you'll be sure to try at least one that you really like and can take home (or come back for in the future). Here's my advice: go there, taste everything, maybe buy a bottle, then go home and share dinner with your significant other. Voila! Cheap date.
Edited to add: Nate's comment reminded me that I had one more photo to share, but forgot because I saw it on a different trip to the store. This is maybe the funniest name/label for a type of drink ever. After I saw this, I kept thinking of ways someone might add it into conversation. For example, "We went to the liquor store, then went home and had some delicious Hot Sex," or "Do you sell Hot Sex?" I laughed a lot thinking about this. I wondered what it tastes like, so I looked up how to make Hot Sex - The Drink. It includes grenadine, orange juice, and triple sec. Wonder why it's called Hot Sex? Since it's a sweet drink, I assume it's a "girlie" drink. Does it, then, make women want to have sex? What are your thoughts?
First of all, I knew that this was you before I even scrolled down and saw your name. This makes me feel special because I think I am growing accustomed to your voice, which is neat.
ReplyDeleteThe next thing I was thinking about was the idea that sweeter drinks might be marketed more toward females than toward males (with the males preferring the more dry varieties). With this in mind, I sort of wonder what Pollan would say about this in terms of "the Botany of Desire" (which, by the way IS on Netflix) when he covers the chapter on the apple. His entire thesis is that the apple is symbolic of our desire for sweetness. So, if we take Pollens argument and apply it to what we know of gendered liquor placements, advertising, branding, and labeling then what does this suggest? I think maybe some of Clint's research on the "manliness" of dark beer might also work with this. I don't really have an observation here other than that somehow they could probably all fit together in either an academic scholarly essay, or into a really sexy party.
*Pollan's argument
ReplyDeleteDid we just become best friends?
ReplyDeleteI wish I'd checked out Pollan's article prior to writing my gender paper, which did utilize Parasecoli's argument that women desire sweets more than men.
Your last comment made me remember that I forgot to add one last picture.
Great post, Erin--a visual and aural treat! I agree with Nate about the voice and, of course, love the fact that you both brought the readings into this discussion.
ReplyDeleteI like the pictures you selected to post. I think all those bottles have a particular theme behind them. For me the picture with the Harrison and Colorado bottles are kind of hinting toward the rough western life. They just remind me of bottles that I would see in older movies. I kind of feel like they are saying if your hard core and tough this is the drink for you. The pic with the Show bottle is sorta on the same lines as the other ones. Except, this one though feels like it has more of the fun, party feeling of the western life. The B Side and Phantom seem like they are more of the romatic evening. The colors and the lines and shapes seem to make it a relaxed setting. I feel like the Hot Sex one is directed at younge adults, especially those who just turned 21 and are able to drink. Its kind of symbolizing the hard, have fun, dont care what anyone thinks attitude. These wines really tie into Barthes essay. They are designed to fit into a 'particular' situation.
ReplyDelete