Meet Ami Shroff, A Flair Bartender Shaking Up A Male-Dominated Profession

One of the factors that made Ami Shroff pursue bartending as a career many years ago was the fact that there were practically no women bartenders.

Now, at 38, she is a flair bartender, mixologist and performer.

At 18, after having seen a movie where they showed flair bartending, Ami became interested in the craft. “Initially, when I started out, my body language was underconfident, and people would be a little iffy about asking a woman bartender to make their drinks. But now when people see my moves, the way I shake, the way I’m pouring, they see how confident I am, and come to me for a drink,” she said.

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Ami Shroff | She/Her 🌈 (@amishroff)

But being a woman in a male-dominated field can be challenging. When Ami started out, there were hardly any female bartenders. 

Facing Sexism As A Female Bartender 

Ami feels bartending for women doesn’t require as much physical skills, as it requires mental fortitude, to put yourself in spaces where you may be judged or feel unsafe.

She adds that stray casual sexist comments aren’t uncommon.

“Once an owner wanted the women bartenders to wear a uniform with a skirt, but one of the women refused and wore the men’s uniform instead. The skirt was pointless because this profession requires a lot of movement and skirts would have been physically restrictive. But the owner then said, ‘Why are we even hiring women if they don’t want to dress like women?’” recalled Ami. 

She has even faced restrictions imposed by state governments prohibiting women from working behind the bar. 

Men in Senior Positions Make the Rules 

In the hospitality and food and beverage industry, mostly cis-hetero men are the ones in senior positions making the rules and calling the shots. “They come with so much privilege, and the bias comes with the privilege,” said Ami. 

She added that the privilege is present even if there’s a junior male employee, because he may not like taking instruction from a woman in a senior position. “Especially if they’re my age or older, they don’t like it. They wonder how I’ve reached a position of success before them,” she said. 

She also highlighted how having women as bartenders, service staff or hostesses, in crowd-facing roles, is often just a tactic of brands to come across as more inclusive. 

The Presence of Women Make Spaces Safer 

Ami said that the presence of women in spaces automatically makes it a safer space, which is why bars having women behind them plays an important role. 

“When I see a woman behind a bar or any space which is normally male-dominated, it feels both cool and satisfying,” she said. “My presence itself is often a statement. Maybe I’m just doing my job, but this is also an added motivation for me,” she added.