Dec 28, 2022
If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? And if French women scream at the top of their lungs for acceptance, respect, and change, does anyone listen? That’s the question freelance writer Anaïs Lecoq set out to answer in her piece for Good Beer Hunting titled “Pas Encore — French Women Are Sick of Waiting for Their Beer Revolution,” which was published on October 20, 2022.
In the piece, Anaïs describes the pervasive avoidance the French beer scene has towards conversations about sexual harrassment, violence, and assault when such conversations are initiated by women. When they do occur, they almost always end in litigation, ensuring that the current culture of fear, trauma, and repression continues to be the status quo. In fact, in our conversation today, she says the entire reason she wrote the piece is due to the fact that despite publishing an open letter signed by hundreds of women working in the French beer scene, they were met with virtual silence and apathy. What will actually get people to listen and make change, she wonders? I find myself wondering the same thing.
You’re about to hear what she thinks it will take, as well as a recent bombshell she hopes might trigger a #MeToo movement similar to the one Brienne Allan instigated in the United States in 2021. However, Anaïs’ hope is clouded by pessimism when we discuss how even those efforts, once promising, have fizzled. Actions may start with words, but they shouldn’t end there, and she describes what actions need to be taken in order for the fledgling French beer scene to grow in such a way that everyone is valued. Let’s listen to what has happened, what’s happening, and what she thinks is about to happen.