Champagne Feminism: the cultural value of being different

The other day over a brunch with my girlfriends on the second bottle of prosecco we started discussing the contemporary attitude towards feminism. Last year I was called an anti-feminist – a claim that startled me and left me feeling quite lost.

With my work on gender equality, awareness raising, mentoring... How can I not be a feminist? What defines being a good one? Looking into my Mimosa glass, I realized that champagne might just have the answer to this dilemma.

Rapid exposure to global information can create a cultural backlash

I grew up in a country that doesn’t have a history of feminism, but was targeting equality openly – including giving the right to vote to women earlier than many European countries and ensuring salaries paid to men and women were equitable. Of course, unpaid care work was only a woman’s call, and there were (and are) professionals with actual or de facto bans for women. Feminism was not a word we knew or discussed, and the first time I heard it, it was used as a swear word.

Representation is a strong tool to improve gender equality, so the vast exposure to Western pop culture in the 90s was based on the contemporary struggle in the West (mostly American) societies with equality. TV was excessively covering representation of gender minorities, discriminated civil groups and, of course, women’s fight for equality that was happening at the time. Running home to watch MTV with my classmates, we were watching the struggles of foreign societies – that were completely distant to Russian culture.

By no means am I claiming that in Russia there was no racism or discrimination – but the way that it was presented did make sense for the majority of Russians, especially the older generations. This mismatch between the real world and TV world translated into society - being a “feminist” became a synonym for a woman who doesn’t fit the cultural context, doesn’t respect traditions – and it was used as an insult for men. Being a feminist became associated not with being against traditional roles of men or women, but being against traditions and against men.

Culture exists in context of history

Growing up in post-Soviet Russia, I could not complain about the country – I did not know any other, and life comprised of good and bad days as every family’s life throughout the whole world. We were a family with our own traditions for birthdays, anniversaries, weddings – and one was to have a bottle of " Sovetskoye Shampanskoye “ (“Soviet Champagne”) at every important celebration.

The creation of this drink does have a thing or two in common with France – from the original technology being brought by French champagne masters in the beginning of the 19th century to taking the title of the “Grand Prix de Champagne” at the Paris World Fair in 1900. During the Soviet Union times the wineries were tasked to create “champagne for the people” and the “Sovetskoye shampanskoye” was born. Don’t be mistaken – I know the difference between Veuve Cliquot and Sovetskoe Shampanskoe, but it was three bottles of the latter that accompanied me at my PhD defense.

With the enaction of the global trade rules, rules of origin, geographic indication, the producers have been under pressure that “champagne” can be only from French region of Champagne – meaning that “Shampanskoe” should no longer be. One can’t help but wonder about the impact of this on traditions that people have followed their whole lives. To understand the effect of having your tradition endangered, just think about what millennials will do if you take away their mimosas from brunches.

Global rules lack cultural context

I googled “what women wear for brunches” the first time I got an invitation for a “brunch” - I had no idea what was the cultural or social code for it apart from “Sex in the City” series. Now I host brunches myself and have admitted that “brunch” is definitely short for “late breakfast with bubbly”

Global trade rules made the world more peaceful and stable, and the system has to keep running and improving to decrease the possibility of inter-state conflicts. But the basis of the global trade rules was written by a handful of countries about 75 years ago. This provided both historical and cultural context for how these rules were created, and the system of “reciprocity” propagated these rules further, requiring compliance from the new members that have to accept the policies of the “older” members.

While this raises a lot of questions about fairness, one thing is certain – without the early pioneers of the global trade rules, the freer global trade would not have been possible at all.

Gender studies and feminism followed similar path of increased complexity and spreading out globally until reaching the global recognition in 2015. With the SDG5 “Gender equality” the whole world signed up under a measurable set of goals for gender equality, but they are often considered “modest” compared to the front running or best practice theories. As with MTV in my childhood, the “benchmarking” is quite often happening on the TV – that is coincidentally most likely to come from the USA. Of course, feminism was not invented in the last century, and was not invented in the USA, but as a social science, it has seen many advances there in the past hundred years. From the right to vote in 1920, to equal pay in the 60s, to mainstreaming intersectionality in the past decade. This progression had contributed greatly to improved understanding on how to address gender inequality globally, but the actual progress is far from unified. It’s undeniable that we need forefront radical thinkers in the field – they are also contributing to the advances, but we need to provide more cultural and social context for the global advancement on gender equality.

Ignoring cultural peculiarities can lead to a major backlash

Women discussing feminism at a brunch is quite a cliché but turns out it is a great accompaniment for a Mimosa or a Spritz. It is important to discuss these issues, as things that are not discussed are more likely to cause discontent or fear. In discussions we are looking for things that we can relate to and use in our lives, and – by extension – when talking about half of the global population, these examples should be coming from around the globe.

When we come with our foreign idea of what gender equality is, in societies with a different cultural background, sometimes there is a backlash – and not only from men, but also from women who are in for the equality, but out for feminism – or for what they perceive feminism to be. I believe that we have to provide similar terms of inclusion to the more traditional, adaptive forms of feminism.

Without making feminism an inclusive concept, anti-feminism is gaining – growing into a card for successful political campaign, men’s right movements, becoming a force to combat low reproduction rates, and finds its way into the UN politics. Is not only a question of East-West divide – even in the USA there is a movement of women against feminism claiming that feminism exaggerates personal stories into the class/sex ones and diminishes the role of traditional stay-at-home mothers.

Global trade rules have seen similar backlashes over the years. There are some globally known such as the “Battle in Seattle”, but there is a far greater number of more local, more culturally charged ones. Like for example, controversy about Swiss cheese in the USA, or last year the Russian government making a surprising overturn on “Sovetskoye shampanskoe” enacting a law that all champagne that is not?this, cannot be called “shampanskoe”, but must instead be referred to as “Sparkling Wine” ?(in Russian) on the label.

“Shampanskoe” is not the only trademark that is being challenged. So it “champanillo” in Spain, “Koniyak” in Armenia, “Prosek” in Croatia, and the list goes on...

Over the years I have learnt how deep gender inequality is rooted, how social and economical norms power it up – in any country. But the key for me was “learning” - I made a conscious effort in educating myself. I spent years raising awareness and making the world more gender equal – and yet I was a bad feminist. Why? It does not matter which specific part of the checklist of what a modern feminist is and what he or she should say I did not fulfill. Should I stop being a feminist because of that? Maybe the truth is at the bottom of my next champagne glass.

Every drink is as valuable as the occasion it is opened for. I value time with my friends more than what kind of bubbly is in my glass. Sharing a bottle of Sovetskoye shampanskoe on my birthday with those closest to me allows me to continue a tradition started a long time ago, and no Veuve Clicquot can fill those shoes.

Everyone aligning themselves to standing up for women’s rights – regardless of gender – should be proud to say they are a feminist, and not second guess themselves what is the official definition of “feminist”. At the end of the day, a bad feminist is still a feminist and better than no feminist at all. Raise your glass for bad feminists!