How Should Men Respond to Sexism? Just Like This Brewery Owner.
Jordan Gleason is the founder of a brewery, but even so, there's a good chance you're gonna want to buy him a beer.
That's because Gleason, who owns Black Acre Brewing Company in Indianapolis, didn't just boot a horrible customer for repeatedly harassing female employees at the brewery's taproom he also penned an extensive Facebook post in which he demands respect for women and rails against the "insidious disease" of sexism women often face while working in the service industry. As of Tuesday afternoon, the post has been shared more than 20,000 times and has racked up dozens of overwhelmingly supportive comments.
"I've been snapped at, mocked, threatened, and insulted about not having a real job," he said. "Anybody in this line of work gets used to a degree of it and develops a thicker skin. Here's the thing though, women in this field get infinitely more disgustingly treated. The sheer number of times they get groped, or harassed, or treated like objects would blow your mind."
As Gleason explains, the post was prompted by a recent incident involving a customer who wished to be served at the establishment even though he'd been kicked out and ultimately banned after "he told [female staff] to their faces that that he liked looking at their tits while they washed dishes, and their asses while they were pouring drinks." The man refused to abide by the brewery's ban, prompting Gleason to tell the man, face-to-face, why his offensive behavior wouldn't be tolerated there.
"He told me he had apologized, and that he guessed my servers were too sensitive," Gleason said. "He then told me that if what he said was a problem, then I should tell them not to wear low cut shirts, and that I should face the dish washing sink away from customers. But since he apologized, he should be allowed to drink in my establishment because he he [sic] lives in the neighborhood and will bring in business." But Gleason had enough, and upheld the decision to ban the man, according to the post.
We reached out to Black Acre in hopes of talking to Gleason, but haven't heard back from him yet. You can read the whole thing right here:
This is a longer post, so bear with me...Today I had to explain to a 60 year old man why he was banned from the pub. ...
Posted by Jordan Gleason on Friday, April 1, 2016
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Tony Merevick is Cities News Editor at Thrillist and would like to buy this dude a beer. Send news tips to news@thrillist.com and follow him on Twitter @tonymerevick.