Should pubs actively encourage female customers?

As regular readers of the Good Pub Guide blogs may know, part of my work is with BitterSweet Partnership, which works in order to dispel beer myths and ignite a love of beer in women. Those issues are both close to my heart, so I found it heartening to discover, via RedNev's Blog, that a pub called The Crown At Worthington has recently held an event called the ‘FemALE Real Ale Festival’. The aim of the festival, in their own words, is to show that ‘Beer isn't just for Blokes, or by Blokes! We want to explode the myth that beer, beards, and beer goggles are the only connection.’

Naturally, I agree with this and am in support of anything that encourages women to try beer. I think RedNev puts it well in his post when he says that ‘Beer's macho image should really be old hat by now, but it lingers on anyway.’ – and it’s this macho image which puts off many women. The BitterSweet survey found that nearly a third of women think that beer drinking is ‘manly or masculine’. I think some women feel the same about pubs; which is a shame because the best ones are friendly, welcoming and fun places to be for both men and women.

If you didn’t hear about the FemALE Real Ale Festival, you’ll have another chance to go to a similar event soon - as there’s going to be more beer events for women across the country on the on 1st April, which has been named FemAle day. This is as part of National Cask Ale Week, which celebrates the cask ales that Britain has to offer. Again, I am in favour of initiatives that encourage women to try beer – however, the one thing I find offputting is the name. It feels like a name like ‘FemALE’ just reinforces some of the stereotypes that say beer drinking is a man’s world.

Given that the female market for beer is largely untapped, should pubs be doing more to encourage a love of beer in women? If you’re female, would you be interested in going to a FemAle event (or would the name put you off?)