LIFE

Facebook post over sexist customers goes viral

Allison Carter
allison.carter@indystar.com
At Black Acre Brewing Company, Thursday, April 26, 2012.

"Today I had to explain to a 60 year old man why he was banned from the pub," the Facebook post from Black Acre Brewing Company founder Jordan Gleason begins. The reason? He told women working at the Black Acre Taproom in Indianapolis that he enjoyed looking at their breasts and backsides while they worked (using less polite language) — and then couldn't understand why that was a problem.

As of this writing, the post has been shared on Facebook more than 10,000 times, to almost universal praise.

"But we're men and they're females. Is cleavage just not a thing anymore?" the patron asked Gleason.

"I told him yeah buddy, it's not, and I won't be changing my mind about having him served," Gleason wrote.

Black Acre Facebook post exposes reality of sexual harassment

The post continues by broadening the scope. This story isn't just about one bad customer, Gleason said. "The sheer number of times (female bar employees) get groped, or harassed, or treated like objects would blow your mind," he wrote. "The worst of it is how normal their harassers think their behavior is." The men try to ingratiate themselves with Gleason because they're both men. They say women shouldn't dress certain ways.

"What terrifies and enrages me is how every one of them thinks that this is normal behavior, but also that other men will agree with them," Gleason wrote.

Gleason ends with an impassioned plea to make a better world for female service industry workers everywhere. "We need to listen when our sisters talk about this, and not just blame it on some bad apples," Gleason said. "Not just say 'not all dudes do that' or 'well no one I know would ever do that.' Nah man. This is an endemic cultural problem."

The comments on the post were universally positive, many thanking Gleason for speaking out about the issue.

Black Acre Brewing is an Irvington small-batch brewery and taproom located in Irvington. Their specialty is seasonal ales.

Read the full Facebook post below. Warning: This post contains profanity.

Allison Carter is an engagement producer at IndyStar. Follow her on Twitter @AllisonLCarter