Letโs be honest, 2016 hasnโt been the best year. The hate and negativity that weโve seen over the past 300 days has really reached an all-time high, so much so that John Oliver dedicated the season finale of his show to telling 2016 to kiss all of our collective grits. It feels like weโve spent the past year saying, โit doesnโt get any lower than this. Weโve finally hit rock bottom,โ only to follow up shortly with, โwell, we stand corrected.โ
But there has been some positivity this year, and coming from social media no less, where all compassion for humanity goes to die. #ShesTheRoaster is a hashtag being used to celebrate the women behind coffeeโs heavy machinery.
Gender inequality is not a new issue for specialty coffee, especially as folks advance in their careers past working the behind the bar. In the essay โRemoving Barriers: Empowering Women in Coffeeโ for The Coffee Woman, Jenn Gallegos notes this is in part because of a โperceived lack of opportunity due to different working styles, absence of female mentors, and gender double standards can make career advancement challenging for women.โ
#ShesTheRoaster is highlighting the women in coffee that have overcome this opportunity gap and who are setting examples for other females trying to advance in the industry. The heartfelt praise attached to the #ShesTheRoaster posts have been a breath of fresh air and positivity in a time when we all could use it most, so weโve rounded up some of our (publicly posted) favorites; weโre shouting out the shout out, if you will.
Join the movement by using the hashtag #shestheroaster. The Universe needs all the positivity you can muster right now.
Zac Cadwaladerย is the news editor at Sprudge Media Network.