 |
[1] New Times, new pleasures A woman with a glass of cognac in her hand has become nowadays common place, both in parties and in the Cognac Bars, although it is still rare in restaurants, at least outside of Southern Europe. Yet, it is less news than one could think. In the 20's the first liberated women seem to have celebrated it with champagne... and cognac. Already the major Houses were busy trying to produce blends "adequate" to the new customers: mellower, smother and lighter than "masculine" cognacs. The trend of women towards cognac withered in the 50's and 60's when they and men alike started to favor the "long drink" formula that catapulted whisky to the most sold spirit ever, while Cognac entered into a declining path in the late 60's and early 70's, from which it only started a timid progressive come-back in the early 80's. It took the upsurge of the Cognac Bar in the 90's for the King of Liquors to really come back into the now decisive trendy market. The long journey of women It has been said than women, more than men, choose what they drink often as a social statement, because in social life they see it as yet another clue of the self-definition we all intend to convey to other people. In fact, during several decades women seemed to care above all for being "authorized" by social custom "to do as men", in manners that went from sexual liberation to the pursuit of a professional, remaining single "and enjoying life" until late...
Now things have changed because women are by and at large ending the cycle of asserting themselves socially as equal to men, defending the principle of equity. Instead, now, they would pursue giving more structure and emotional functionality to their lives. Among urban, articulate professional women in Europe and America, hatred of men is out, controlling one's environment and making the most of it is in. Studies show the new female cognac drinker to fit into this description... These days, women have grown more conservative than in many, many years regarding the close environment of their lives, while they have less doubts than ever about their social standing and their right to personal freedom. Freedom is no longer discussed, it is taken for granted. The question isn't longer if a woman has the actual right to do whatever she pleases in a given situation, without taking into the account the gender. The question is what to do with that freedom and what for.
Cognac as a silent confident In the process of organizing her life as coherently as possible, modern women are going back to a more cautious ritual in everything regarding social life. Nowhere is this more perceptible than in the ever-recurring game of meeting partners and some see in that conservatism the reason to the success of Cognac Bars among women. Before actually sharing table with someone who loves cognac we can safely assume a few hints about that person. It is clear than one knows a quite lot beforehand about a man who we know is willing to pay say $US 30 for 3 cube centiliters of cognac. We can be assured that he drinks for sheer pleasure rather than to get drunk in as few minutes as possible. That he fancies refinement, shuns noisy places, behaves himself and, in general terms, the kind of thins that make that man an ideal prospect for a new more-if-affinity blind date.
Happiness and quiet fulfillment are back in force as vital objective for millions of educated, coolly hedonistic, male and female well-to-doers across this global planet of ours. Cognac and the relational frame it abets fits superbly in the picture.
|
| BACK TO ARTICLES Ask For a Free Quote |
Many modern, professional women like Cognac Bars also because in
a highly ritualized way, the atmosphere invites to placid communication and they can
better make a sensible appraisal of the gentleman in front. A relaxing surrounding does
marvels for getting into confidences and personal chat, as Mata-Hari and her colleagues
well knew. A lot more convivial and telling than hurting your timpans and sweating one's
shirt drenched in a disco. For the elite, noisy places are definitely out for human
encounters; the essence of taking an engagement with someone, be it a short-lived,
transient one, is getting to know enough about that someone to leave you in control of
what you are doing.