“After all, tomorrow is another day.” – Margaret Mitchell, Gone With The Wind
What’s interesting about living in the social media age is the speed with which information can travel. A pre-loved dress I was selling got snatched up so fast after posting it online. The sordid details of a famous person’s trashy personal life is known around the world after a matter of seconds. I can easily Google (unbelievable how a company name/product became so mainstream, it’s informally accepted as a verb) information and quotes to prove – or disprove – a point.
This speed and access can also get people’s sentiments and opinions about a topic across pretty easily.
I’m hoping this is what got to Charles Schumann who, in just a few days after the whole Icon-gate (as I like to put it) – and a day after we released our reaction to the controversy, issued an apology and returned his Industry Icon award.
Personally, I don’t know his motivation – and his justification that his statements were “misunderstood” left a bitter taste in my mouth. But as a friend said, “Please don’t belittle the triumphs of a woman, no matter how small it is. That small win took so much work, so much strength. In an industry and a world where men lead the charge, women have to prove themselves a thousand times over just to get a smidgen of acknowledgement.”
It’s a small win, but a win nonetheless. I hope in the future that it wouldn’t take a sh*tstorm like this to get people to pay attention to the issues of women behind the bar.
It is in the spirit of fairness – and because we are not misandrists – that we upload this post.
Read about Schumann’s apology here.
