It is a typical Saturday evening, and my friends and I are getting ready for a night out on the town. We spritz and primp our hair, apply mascara, and slip into excessively high heels. Before leaving, one friend comments that we are going to have to buy more vodka tomorrow. Another takes a final swig of her corona before we leave.
This behavior is not only what has become socially typical of college-aged females, but recently, it has also reached an unprecedented level. In an article from TIME Magazine, “Women on a Binge,” Jodie Morse discusses the rising phenomenon of female binge drinking behavior. Morse illuminates many differing theories behind why this behavior has grown exponentially within the past decade, and she also relates this phenomenon to many ideas that we have discussed in class. Morse begins this article by describing Lisa Diebold, a typical Syracuse undergrad, who has one major goal for her senior year: to be able to out-drink her guy friends at this institution. Diebold explains, “To be able to drink like a guy is kind of a badge of honor. For me, it’s a feminism thing.” As is exemplified with this statement, Morse argues that perhaps this upsurge in female alcohol intake can be viewed as a mode for women to competitively “equal” that of men. Thus, this alarming rise in drinking becomes an example of a Douglas-esque “fantasy of power,” in that more and more women seek empowerment through beer and shots.
However, there are countless problems with this way of thinking. For college-aged females especially, this upsurge is incredibly frightening due to health reasons alone. Morse illustrates that in 2001 at Syracuse University twice as many women as men were taken to the hospital for intoxication-related injuries (some had alcohol poisoning, some had been violently sexual assaulted, and some had extreme bone fractures due to drunken falls). Morse also states that heavy drinking increases for women have even been documented in all-female colleges, according to a study published in The Journal of American College Health. This research further shows that for women who binge drink, there is a 150% increase in “unplanned” sexual activities, date rape, and incidences of sexual assault, when compared to women who do not.
Perhaps even more concerning than this documented rise in college-aged female drinking behavior is that of a similar rise in young females. It was found that girls at disturbingly young ages have increased their alcohol intake to match that of their male peers. In fact, by 1999, 10th grade girls had narrowed the gender gap in alcohol intake to within two percentage points from their male classmates. Morse states that young girls often start to drink merely to impress boys, because of the socially accepted attitude that girls who drink (and who drink copious amounts, at that) are more attractive than girls who do not. This mindset, which is clearly activated at a young age, has many implications and serious problems attached to it for women across all different age groups.
Because of biological differences alone, women cannot physically handle as much alcohol as men can. In fact, Morse states that women’s bodies have a higher ratio of fat to water than men do, so alcohol becomes less diluted in women than in men when it enters the bloodstream. Research also shows that women have lower levels of an enzyme that helps to break down alcohol than men do. Moreover, it is known that girls who begin drinking in their early teens are more prone to alcoholism later in life as opposed to boys. Furthermore, it has been found that women are more prone to depression than men, and heavy alcohol abuse can easily affect this disease’s eventual prognosis. Lastly, women are known to develop liver disease 10 to 15 years earlier than men, even if women consume only a portion of the daily alcohol that men do.
Even with the prevalence of these health risks, society has made it very easy for women to strive to drink men “under the table.” It is common for bars to host drink deals for women, thus enabling them to get drunk quicker than men. Many examples of binge drinking behavior are also seen in the media, which further relates to Douglas’ ideas of enlightened feminism. There are countless ads for liquor and beer in which attractive women are selling the product. Moreover, in glamorous shows such as Sex and the City, the main characters are constantly seen drinking together, with little to no consequences. In shows targeted for younger audiences, such as Gossip Girl, drinking is also seen as a symbol of status and power of the elite.
In society, female binging is further perpetuated by the social construction that it is expected for men to provide women with drinks. For many women, this phenomenon can be construed as a symbol of power since they often brag of or strive to receive free beverages. However, the inherent problem with this façade of power is that even though women obtain a sense of freedom from being catered to, this behavior is, in fact, placing them further into their metaphorical cages, as is discussed by Marilyn Frye. Thus, this social expectation can be viewed as a component of male hegemony, helping to allow for the patriarchy that exists in our world today. As was discussed in class in relation to Allan Johnson’s “Patriarchy, the System: An It, Not a He, a Them, or an Us,” hegemony is the ability of a dominant group to remain in power and maintain it by convincing subordinate groups to accept cultural norms that place them in their position of inferiority. Thus, men provide free drinks for women, and by convincing them that this is a form of flattery, they are further able to maintain their supremacy in society.
In reality, however, this behavior is not complimentary to women at all. Since men are expected to pay for multiple drinks, this action becomes an expression of male wealth, and it is thus playing into society’s expectations that men dominate the labor force. Moreover, women are often anticipated to “pay men back” in a sexual sense for these free “rewards,” and thus drunken women become symbols of sex and vulnerability, nowhere near ones of intellect. Lastly, as was previously stated, because of the general effect that alcohol has on the body, women who drink heavily are more prone to violence and sexual assault from men. Therefore, instead of viewing drinking as a symbol of empowerment, women have to recognize that this behavior is, in fact, a regression from feminism, since it further oppresses and subordinates them in society.
Overall, I found Morse’s article to be extremely interesting and pertinent to what I witness here on Colgate’s campus. I often observe female friends attempting to match their male friends in drinking games or competitions. I also feel that women are frequently pressured to drink heavily in a college atmosphere, perhaps due to this idea that alcohol is a source of dominance for women, or that it is at least a release from their constrained weaknesses. I think that women often mimic male behavior in reckless ways due to gender-related ideologies present in our culture that elevate men to their dominant reign over society. Moreover, I think that the current, self-confident, “girl- power feminist” generation views alcohol as a mode of being set free (perhaps due to the media’s association between glamour and alcohol). Thus, women drink to raise their self-confidence and to enable themselves to take control of social situations, attempting to replace men as social aggressors.
It becomes increasingly important for these “girl-power”-infused feminists to remember that remaining sober, or refusing to accept a free drink from men, is not only allowed, but should also be further endorsed in the media. Moreover, women who binge need to realize that being able to drink like a guy does not make one like a guy in any respect, especially because of the physiological consequences that can stem from this behavior in females. Overall, “girl power” will never come from out-drinking a man; instead, I think that today, it would take more power for women to resist taking drinks from men. Thus, as women, we need to begin to step off of the path of least resistance when it comes to drinking behavior, not only for our own health and safety, but to enable us to free ourselves from our cages of subordination.
** Morse also brings up the point that women often drink incessantly in order to lose their inhibitions around men. However, they also tend to be self-conscious about the large amount of calories that they consume from alcohol, and at times, they will deny meals for themselves if they plan on binge drinking later in the day. This behavior further perpetuates an extremely unhealthy lifestyle for women, since eating less before drinking merely promotes getting exceedingly drunk. Attached is a video of this phenomenon deemed, “drunkorexia”:
http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7022647n
Works Cited
Douglas, Susan. Enlightened Sexism: The Seductive Message that Feminism’s Work is Done. New York: Times Books, 2010. Print.
Frye, Marilyn. Oppression.
Johnson, Allan G. Patriarchy, the System: An It, Not a He, a Them, or an Us.
Morse, Jodie. “Women on a Binge.” TIME Magazine. 1 April 2002: 1-3. Web. 01 Feb 2011.http://www.time.com/time/2002/wdrinking/story.html.
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