Opinion: The new alcohol label is not just unaesthetic. It’s problematic as well.
And it is more than the issue of people drinking alcohol after missed periods or during pregnancy.
Well, we know the drill with the consequences of binge drinking — drunkenness, stupor, antisocial behavior, accidents, hangovers and even unprotected sex and unwanted pregnancy. The same goes for people who drink alcohol during pregnancy — it can cause harm to the baby, according to healthwatch and the government anyways.
First of all, you don’t need to look beyond the issue of colors to recognize the problem. There’s the issue of colour blindness, a condition in which certain people are not able to see either some types of colors, and then there are those who cannot tell the difference between specific colors. There are also partial or completely blind people, including blind people who drink alcohol. And some of these blind people may be expectant mothers. There are also other types of eye related disorders and diseases that affect the eye, as well as viruses that can damage the eye. So what is the point of slapping a label on a bottle to those who cannot even see the label — let alone the bottle or the surroundings at all? It’s just as good as talking on stage to an empty audience. Shortly put, the message won’t be conveyed to the visually impaired and the blind.
And it’s not just vision impairment and blindness that is the problem here as well. Some people with mental disabilities, such as dyslexia and even autism might not be able to interpret the label well, even with the picture. Some with disabilities might think the opposite of what the label is trying to convey. Some with reading disabilities are unable to read the warning at all.
Then, there’s another issue that the health ministers and alcohol healthwatch is willfully being transphobic by using a picture of a pregnant lady, implying that only women can get pregnant, and failing to recognize that people of other genders can get pregnant too — such as non binary and transgender people.
Then there’s that issue of singling out a specific gender, without any context around it. Women. Without context — no definition of women, no inclusion of non binary or transwomen at all. It’s just horribly wrong in so many ways. First off all, there’s the issue of misogyny. The labels tell women that women cannot be trusted with their own bodies during pregnancy. Women get shamed for doing almost anything these days, from diet choices to clothes and make up to attending festivals and nightclubs and drinking alcohol. Women are often blamed if something happens to them.
Then, there the gender stereotypes that define a person’s gender. Those stereotypes. In the traditional gender roles, women were expected to be motherly and have children and look after them, cook, clean and serve their husbands. A woman and a man in the olden days (1950’s and earlier) was defined by their genitals and reproductive system. Today, we now see this as transphobic. So effectively, the label is stereotyping women as well as making wrongful and false assumptions that only women can get pregnant.
And then there’s the issue of pregnant people. Not all people are able to get pregnant. For example, those with PCO or PCOS (Polycistic Ovary Syndrome), endometriosis, and other gynecological conditions might find it harder to get pregnant, or might not be able to get pregnant at all. People with these types of conditions drink alcohol without even realizing they are pregnant as they think that due to their underlying condition, conceiving a child is very difficult or impossible for them. How can alcohol healthwatch expect a person to know when or even if that person is pregnant?
And then there is the issue of transgender and non-binary people. As long as transgender and non binary people have a functioning uterus, vagina and ovaries, both transgender people and non binary people can get pregnant. Yet alcohol healthwatch, the health ministers and the governments chose only women, without recognizing people of different genders, including transgender and non binary people. By not recognizing non binary and transgender people, as well as other genders, Alcohol Healthwatch, the health ministers and the government is being transphobic. Maori people get very upset about not being recognized in New Zealand history — and rightfully so — and people are doing their best to resolve the problem. But now nobody bats an eye when a hideous transphobic and ableist label is slapped onto alcohol bottles. Perhaps this is because alcohol healthwatch is using Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Disorder as an excuse to mask transphobia in the label. If you care about equality and social justice, please make sure you include everyone. You can raise awareness about fetal alcohol syndrome disorder without being transphobic, and minimize the risk of it for pregnant people — and alcohol healthwatch and the ministers and governments failed at this.
Alcohol healthwatch and the government isn’t just mandating that alcohol companies slap unaesthetic warning labels on their products and getting the companies to pay more for it. They are also willfully slapping on exclusionary, offensive and ableist labels. Alcohol Healthwatch, at best is being insensitive, tacky and tone deaf, at worst, downright offensive, ableist (colors that colour blind people might not be able to differ, as well as not recognizing potentially blind expectant people who drink alcohol), sexist and transphobic.
Alcohol healthwatch and the government claims to care about babies in expecting people’s wombs. But alcohol healthwatch needs to realize that men, transgender people and non binary people can get pregnant too. And that not everyone can see the labels, even with bright red. And even then, not everyone can read it correctly or interpret it as such. Some may even think the opposite due to a learning disability — that the product should be drunk during pregnancy, rather than should not.
It is not one’s choice to be a woman, man, non binary or a transgender, and it is not a choice to be blind or colorblind either. But it is a choice to slap ableist, homophobic, offensive and transphobic labels on alcohol bottles. And Alcohol Healthwatch needs to do better. There is no excuse for being ableist, transphobic and sexist in this day and age. If alcohol healthwatch, the ministry of health of both countries — New Zealand and Australia, Food Standards Australia New Zealand authority and the governments cannot come up with a label that includes all of these groups, perhaps it is best to just not slap money costing labels on bottles.
Asides from all this, notice that alcoholic drinks are the only consumable alcohol products that warning labels have been slapped on? Why not cough mixture and certain lozenges, which also contains alcohol? Or edibles, like chocolate? Even some fruits contain a small percentage of alcohol naturally.
P.S Shame on the winemaker of Lark Hill Wines for backing up this decision to slap on ableist and transphobic labels on alcohol bottles. Lark Hills Wine is complicit in enabling transphobia, misogyny and ableism, and I hope the customers will see the winemaker and the brand as such and boycott. I will not be drinking the wine from Lark Hill as a result because while I love to be a booze reviewer and critic, I also put ethical behavior first — I will not support any business who is complicit in transphobia and ableism— just like the fact I have stopped being a fan of JK Rowling, after she openly came out as a TERF (Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminist) and openly made transphobic remarks on Twitter. While I still am a fan of the beloved Harry Potter series, I now no longer am a fan of the author herself and will no longer buy anymore of her books.
Until Alcohol healthwatch changes their ways, I will not support them at all. I will NOT be complicit in emboldening transphobic people and organizations. I will NOT empower transphobes, Nazis and TERFS. And I will NOT buy products from businesses which encourage transphobic or ableist behavior. I will NOT buy products from homophobic or transphobic businesses (same reason why I won’t EVER purchase a Dolce & Gabbana item). Sorry Lark Hill Wines, I will stick to a glass of whiskey or have rum and coke, until you change your attitude.
