As a woman who writes about cannabis for a living, I have experienced some sexism in the cannabis community. Generally, people, often men, are surprised when I know what I’m talking about despite having done this for a decade. Or assume I write clickbait articles with no real subject matter. After recently having a man say the words “look at you, you little professional” when I explained how cupboard growing worked I just had enough. I decided to do a little experiment and asked a male friend to tell people he did my job. If he told men that he wrote about cannabis the interest was much higher. It was assumed he wrote about technical and well-researched topics and immediately he was accepted as knowledgeable in the field. No one said“ Well why don’t you tell me what I need to grow in my cupboard then?” or “Ok so what’s the difference between Sativa and Indica?” The next level was looking further afield and seeing if it was just me experiencing this sort of thing. Of course, it wasn’t. After very little research I found tons of articles about systemic cannabis community sexism as well as anecdotal stories from professional women in the industry. This drove me to look further and see if I can find why sexism is so common in cannabis society, if anything is changing, and where we are planning to go from here.

Stoner Girl

Let’s have a look at something that has always been lurking behind sexism in cannabis. The trope of the stoner girl reflects the sexism that was used in marketing to imply that only a certain kind of girl would be involved with cannabis. The idea was that stoner girls were sexually available and just loved a good time. They were pretty much up for anything in their weed leaf booty shorts and skimpy smiley face bikini tops. Somehow the trope for men getting stoned is sitting around giggling, for girls it’s getting wasted and subsequently easy. The fact that this is the primary way women are depicted when it comes to cannabis is extremely harmful.

Of course, a lot of this is found in marketing which isn’t exactly new. However, one would expect to see sexist pinup girl marketing and faceless breasts behind a product in slightly less progressive industries. It’s a shame that slogans like “bitches and bud” show women as an object that can come alongside weed rather than women being an important part of the culture and just as into smoking as men. A report in 2017 from the Cannabis Consumer’s Coalition found that women smoke more than men in many cases. This only relates to that year and was done through a poll which is never perfect, but I think my point stands.

The stereotype of the easy girl that smokes weed and puts out, the cool girl who will take a little puff with her boyfriend, or the anonymous pair of boobs with a bong between them do not represent the women in cannabis.

Culture Control

This leads us to the next issue which was born from a general level of sexism in society as well as the idea that women weren’t an integral part of the cannabis community. Historically the industry has been dominated by men. I found several articles by women who own cannabis-based businesses or work high up in the industry who have continually struggled in this male-dominated world of weed. When reading the article by Forbes on Battling Sexism in a Male-Dominated Industry I saw a few familiar phrases. When Krista Whitely, CEO of a cannabis company, was pitching to investors she was faced with “I think it’s cute you want to make money like the big boys.” Obviously finding out that she wasn’t being taken seriously was a serious blow to the entrepreneuse. Other impressive women in the industry have reported feeling so discarded that they are finding it a struggle to maintain their status.

These women don’t just experience dismissal at the hands of men in the industry but inappropriate sexual behaviour which often links back to the Stoner Girl marketing. How can women be taken seriously in an industry that almost exclusively uses exposed female bodies to sell products?

Forbes has pretty extensively covered this topic and in my research, I was shocked to find a story about a woman in the industry who brought her 22-year-old daughter to conferences with the hope of mentoring her. Her daughter was literally asked at a conference if she was “interested in a master/slave relationship”. I don’t kink shame, but I do asshole shame and that is a horrific thing to say to a young woman out of nowhere. It’s hardly going to convince women to enter the cannabis industry. Again the marketing issue comes back as this woman and her daughter were made to feel uncomfortable by the variety naked girl merch being handed out at the conference.

The fact that this is a male-dominated industry means that the culture is aimed towards men, and is not a safe space for women. In the modern-day, there is no excuse for this kind of behaviour based on gender or any other aspect of a human being. Women have proven again and again that they deserve a seat at this table, we just need men to push the chair out and welcome us.

Speaking Out

As a subset of men controlling the industry few women are willing to speak out when they are treated badly. This community is their life and they are afraid that if they say anything they could lose their livelihood. Several women have later admitted to being harassed at cannabis events under the guise of networking. Melissa Vitale said in one article that she had a man refuse to take hints that she didn’t want his genitals pressed against her, but he was also proposing an impressive opportunity for her young company so she felt she couldn’t be abrasive. A part of the cannabis industry being a safe space for women includes them feeling comfortable to speak out about harassment and to feel that the other men in the industry will be horrified. The harassers need to be punished, not the victims.

Come back for part 2 where we look into the horrific “Meat Gate” scandal and discuss what can be done to improve the cannabis industry for women.

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