Hello and welcome back to sexism in cannabis culture. Last week, we learned about marketing and how working women are treated in the industry. We talked about why marketing tactics in the cannabis industry are not only harmful to women, but also make them uncomfortable attending community events. Nude women licking bongs or thick clothing everywhere made them uncomfortable, but so did the men at the event. Several female CEOs spoke about the sexual harassment they experienced under the guise of the Internet, even in one case her 22-year-old daughter was treated as entertainment for hire. This week we’ll start with a topic I could easily write an entire article on, which the Internet calls “meat gate.”

meat door

At the Cannabis Convention in Las Vegas, edible company Altai decided to do something that has been considered disgusting, unsanitary and incredibly sexist for decades. In fact, I think what they’ve done is worse than the cliché because it’s not elegant, but it’s still a stupid practice. They decided that in 2016, it would be appropriate to use women as food plates. Of course, many of us probably know the old-fashioned serving of sushi to women in the ’80s businessman’s bizarre practice. But, like oddly proportioned suits and overuse of cocaine, we very much think this practice is a thing of the past. As I said, she’s not there to show guests sushi, but cooked meat. Wearing nothing but bikinis and towels, the model lay on a table completely covered in pieces of meat. I’ll give you a little time to really understand this. The company sees this as entirely appropriate, which is beyond me and most of the conference attendees.

If there’s any benefit to this horribly tasteless display, it’s that it draws a lot of attention to the level of sexism that still exists in the cannabis community. Just sharing a photo of the poor woman lying there with her arms, breasts, stomach and legs completely covered in pieces of meat, with just a towel covering her genitals, was enough to stir up anger. As the image and story spread on social media, calls for a boycott of the Altai brand grew. Apparently, a lot of the uproar came from cannabis women who were told in disgust that they were not welcome as participants, only as regular attire. I probably don’t have to say that, but yes, Altai Brands is a male-dominated company.

When all the biggest names in the cannabis press denounced them as disgustingly sexist, we might take a wild guess at the company’s reaction. That’s right, ironically, they copied and pasted the same statement in response to every comment arguing over the platter. I’m not going to bore the whole statement, but I just want to say that they said they regret the poor decision, it didn’t show their respect for women (which made me laugh), and basically said it won won’t happen again. One can only hope. I don’t know if anyone else has had that scene in South Park where the head of BP said he was “very, very sorry” popped into their minds, but of course I did. Personally, I think the ability to do something like this in the first place shows a complete lack of respect for women and members of the cannabis community. I don’t agree with it being labelled simply stupid or wrong.

Unfortunately, this full cluster fluff happened 6 years ago and we’re still having issues. Actions like this are sure to draw attention to the problem, but the reaction is either short-lived, directed at the disaster, or just performative. It’s not enough to be angry with a company that does overtly sexist and crazy behavior. We need to focus on subtle sexism, deeply ingrained anti-female attitudes that still exist in the cannabis community today.

Move forward

Well, I did accidentally run out of most of the word count on Meat Gate, but as a final wrap, let’s see how the cannabis industry has changed. Of course, the first thing you need to go to is the attitude of the fur boy club that penetrates every corner of the business side of the industry. There are several ways to achieve this, including changing marketing to reduce gender specificity. Across all of our merchandise, there are no more big-breasted blondes wearing nothing. If we want to go anywhere, we need cannabis products to talk to women and men.

We also need better human resources support for cannabis companies, as women are repeatedly suppressed right now.

However, I will say something positive, with many sources claiming that marijuana is becoming more and more women. Despite how women are treated, thousands are still flocking to the cannabis industry. This is partly because women who enter from the ground floor and experience sexism firsthand are creating safe spaces and support networks for new women in the community. The past few years have seen a dramatic increase in message boards and other community networks dedicated to women who use marijuana. Female-led companies are paving the way for women in cannabis, and the more we have, the harder it is to keep us quiet.

So, all in all, the cannabis community has been a difficult one for women to access. But, as usual, it wasn’t easy to let us down. So let’s look at the future of the cannabis community, and that future is women.

Written by Tasha Porritt

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photographer Dimitri Bang exist no splash