I REMEMBER seeing a meme on Facebook that read, “Women scamming men for free drinks on a night out are merely reparations for the generations of gender inequality we have suffered so yes, I will wait until old mate, Josh, has bought me 3 vodka sodas before I tell him I actually have a boyfriend and that’s just showbizz baby.”
I thought it was super hilarious because as someone who has worked at a bar, I’ve seen this countless of times.
Older, rich men buying shooters or bottles of the drink of their choice for women young enough to be their daughters. It was always fun to watch.
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My favourite thing about this is when the men expect something back from the young ladies. “Hey babes, I bought you these Savanna Drys, now can I have your number?” I heard a guy saying this to a woman at a bar once.
How did men normalise this behaviour? Just because you buy someone a drink doesn’t mean they owe you something.
This entitlement mentality is ridiculous but also dangerous at the same time. The male ego is very fragile and when things don’t go his way, he can easily become violent.
Women getting their drinks spiked is nothing new and it’s incredibly frightening how vigilant women have to be in public spaces because of men.
Another reason why I don’t have a problem with women using men for free drinks is because the gender-pay gap is still a problem that working women face worldwide.
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Although South Africa is one of the most equal-paying nations in the world (19 out 149 countries), there’s still a gap.
Last year, an automated recruitment platform, Giraffe, did a study on South Africa’s gender pay gap and the report had some interesting finds such as: the gender pay gap starts to widen from the age of 26, with the largest difference being between the ages of 36 and 44 (33 per cent). Men with limited education have better opportunities (construction, security, warehousing and transport) than women with limited education (hotels, supermarkets and restaurants) and women without a matric are most likely to face discrimination, with an average pay gap of 33 per cent.
There’s plenty of evidence that proves why men are more likely to earn more than women but somehow, men feel like they’re being ‘scammed’ for drinks?
The usage of the word ‘scam’ is also problematic because women don’t generally scam men for drinks and most of the time are being nice by accepting a few drinks then saying ‘no’ when the buyer wants something more. That is not scamming someone.
Remember lads, just because you bought her a drink it doesn’t mean she’s interested.
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