Fashionably drunk?

Have you ever attended a work event and ended up a little over-refreshed?

Yeah, me too.

But have you ever been a little over-refreshed at a really important work event, where you're scheduled to make a speech in front of cut-throat colleagues, important clients and the international press?

Yeah, me neither.

But then I'm not Toronto Design Council President Robin Kay who launched Toronto Fashion Week last week with a drunken speech that became a major scandal in the local media and left me pondering whether drinking on the job is ever in style.

I attend a lot of work-related social events and,in light of clear photographic evidence, I can hardly deny that I often enjoy a glass of wine or two at them.

But that's my limit. While I may have played it a little faster and looser earlier in my career, these days the allure of an open bar just doesn't tempt me when the possibility of jeopardizing my job hangs in the balance.

Quite frankly, I can't imagine what possessed Robin Kay to drink to the point of inebriation on such an important occasion. Yes, she was likely tired, stressed and even nervous, but she is not a young ingenue facing her first foray into the big leagues: she is, by all accounts, a strong, capable and fiercely intelligent woman who has been at the top of the fashion heap for many years.

And yet, as inexplicable as her faux pas, might seem, I can't help but feel some sympathy for her because I'm not certain that a man who did the same thing would be subject to the same level or ridicule and derision.

I have no doubt that a man who behaved in a similar fashion would face some sort of censure, but I think there's something about a sloppy, female drinker that people generally find more offensive and off putting than a male who conducts himself similarly.

It's a cliche that women in powerful positions have to be not just as good, but better, than men of similar stature and I think there's some truth to that. I think powerful women, especially when it comes to their personal life, are often scrutinized to a greater degree than their male counterparts.

And I fear that when women do screw up, as Robin Kay certainly did, people are considerably more gleeful.

What do you think?

Comments

[Porter]

I don't think this is a man/woman issue at all, I believe that a man would have been equally judged in this instance.

She apologized, admitted to what she did and it should be left at that. If she has a problem (which by this one incidence nobody can establish) then those close to her can help her. Sure she should know better but things happen, many of us have gotten drunk without planning on it especially those of us who don't drink often and forget what light weights we might be!!! It's not the end of the world, she didn't drive a car, no harm was done, we should all forget about it!

One last point I'd like to make. The people organizing events shouldn't serve alcohol if they don't want people getting drunk. Period.

[Woman in a window]

As a woman with two glasses of wine under her belt and who is deleriously drunk, there are more important things in the world than a drunk fashion designer. I'm with Porter up there, why serve alcohol if you don't expect people to consume? Seems like a problem waiting to happen. "What? Oh good god, one of ours drank? That's for the reporters!" But isn't fashion all about the spectacle? Maybe she did just what they wanted. I didn't see. Should I watch? But my glass is empty! (Seriously, I'm soused, sorry if I sound grouchy.)

[Beck]

Keeping in mind that there are always exceptions to the rule, I would be seriously worried about the judgement of anyone in management who acted like that.