Louise Los and Fleur Godart are two French women, activists, who work in a predominantly male environment: that of wine. One of their little vintages bears a name that does not go unnoticed: “Feminist whores”, a snub to an insult they have already heard. On the label, a colored illustration of women, naked, with middle fingers on the chest.
This small cuvée of natural wine is distributed in France, Spain, Sweden, Great Britain and Belgium. “We even send these cuvées to China, notes Louise Los, responsible for militant cuvées at Vins et Poulières, a wine and poultry wholesaler. If it happens in China, it happens everywhere. »
No, because in Quebec, it does not pass. The Société des alcools du Québec (SAQ) refused private importation in mid-June, learned The Press. Some 120 bottles of Feminist Putes, intended for Quebec restaurateurs (and not for SAQ shelves), are selected in France.
WINE AND POULTRY PHOTO
The label of the Putes féministes cuvée is a nod to photography They arriveby Helmut Newton.
On June 15, when the order was ready to go, the SAQ’s Private Orders Department wrote a laconic email to the team at Vin dans les voiles, the Montreal private import agency that represents Wines and Poultry. “Due to the name of the product, Quality Management asks us to refuse the Feminist Whores product,” it says. Note that, even for private wine imports, the SAQ remains the importer in Quebec.
The Vin dans les voiles team responded to the SAQ to explain the context and the project’s approach, but they were told again that “unfortunately, this product will be rejected, unequivocally”.
“Act of provocation” and “sexism”
According to Linda Bouchard, information officer at the SAQ, the cuvée in question does not comply with the Code of Ethics of the Quebec alcoholic beverage industry. This document specifies, among other things, that the communication and the packaging must not associate the product with any “act of provocation” nor in any way be “sexist”, raises Mme Bouchard.
Feminist whores is “really a term that can be perceived as abusive, offensive, negative, sexist, pejorative. Our intention is really never to hurt anyone,” says Linda Bouchard. The label doesn’t fit either, she says, given the presence of nudity.
PHOTO MARTIN CHAMBERLAND, THE PRESS
Julie Audette, in the foreground, surrounded by her colleagues Audréa Page, Claudia Morissette, Valériane Paré and Léonie Desjardins
The reaction of the SAQ surprises Julie Audette, founder of Vin dans les voiles, who sees it as a form of censorship and who hopes that the state company will reconsider its decision.
We are well aware that it is delicate, but why is there no room for dialogue?
Julie Audette, founder of the agency Le vin dans les voiles
On the other side of the ocean, within the Wines and Poultry team, it’s the same disappointment. First, because this refusal occurs at the very last minute. Then, because this project has a “political and social significance”, according to Louise Los. The decision to name the cuvée thus was taken in the wake of the #metoo movement which shook the wine world in France.
“It’s also a way of making our media – wine and labels – a space for debate, a space for asserting our existence,” explains Louise Los. Wines and Poultry offers other so-called “militant” cuvées, such as Male Tears, You haven’t yet met the good one, or Differently-abled. Each time, part of the money is given to associations in connection with the cause, specifies Mme The bone.
Call out sexist insults
Julie Audette finds it paradoxical that the SAQ refuses to import this little militant cuvée when in 2023 we still find beer labels which, in her eyes, present women as objects. Martine Delvaux, professor in the literary studies department at UQAM, has the same thoughts. She thinks of Archibald’s beer campaign, which features stereotypical white women.
PHOTO FROM THE ARCHIBALD WEBSITE
The Matante, by Archibald
Since the Putes féministes cuvée will not be found in stores, Martine Delvaux sees no problem. “Personally, I really like this type of project,” she says, “especially when you know how much the wine industry can also be a place of sexism. »
According to Léa Clermont-Dion, filmmaker and postdoctoral research associate at Concordia University, the justification of sexism invoked by the SAQ is not logical, since the intention of the project is precisely to denounce sexist insults.
Reappropriation is a process that can be understood by a certain public familiar with these codes of claim. Perhaps the management of the SAQ judged that such a recourse could be badly perceived by the audience in general?
Léa Clermont-Dion, filmmaker and postdoctoral research associate at Concordia University
This is not the first time that the SAQ has refused a product. According to an article by The Press published in 2012, she did it for the cuvée du vigneron de Bourgogne, whose labels showed humorous illustrations of men and women naked or in undershirts. A cuvée by Jean-François Ganevat called “J’en envie” and showing the silhouette of a woman in her underwear with one hand in her panties was also intercepted, but the representative was still able to distribute his bottles by having a letter to his clients.
Is this a possible path for Feminist Putes? Linda Bouchard, of the SAQ, does not believe it. “In this case, it’s extreme,” she concludes, pointing out that the approach behind the product – “honorable” – has nothing to do with the decision.