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The Subversive Joy of Alcohol: Breaking Social Expectations and Embracing Empowerment

This research explores the complex relationship between alcohol, femininity, and social expectations. Respondents express joy in breaking free from societal norms while enjoying drinking, which offers them an escape from constraints often placed upon young women. While public health narratives warn against the dangers of excessive drinking for women's safety, this study reveals a paradox where alcohol serves as a source of delight and empowerment. The stigma surrounding female drinking behavior illustrates deeper issues of control and moral judgment within society.

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The Subversive Joy of Alcohol: Breaking Social Expectations and Embracing Empowerment

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  1. Stigma and delight Dr. Patsy Staddon University of Plymouth Patsy.staddon@plymouth.ac.uk

  2. Escaping from social expectations is fun • ‘…I absolutely love feeling……well, drunk!’ (research respondent) • I’ve got friends who do exactly that [so I] just go out and let my hair down and get drunk and dance around for hours (research respondent) • ‘Being drunk … it’s a brazen refusal to be quiet, well-behaved and ladylike ... Femininity ... relies on, is defined by, inhibition’ (Lawson 2000).

  3. Why alcohol presents a special threat • Our legalised drug of choice • Public health model of how to use it attempts to limit its role in social life (Hunt and Barker 2001) • It may be presented as potential enemy of ‘health’ and ‘order’ • Particular fears expressed for ‘safety’ of young women who get drunk • Shaming and stigmatising of this group in Press and in treatment

  4. Distaste at ‘unfeminine’ loss of control

  5. Enjoyment of alcohol includes relaxing of usual constraints • Most cultures recognise role of substances • But all limit who can use them and how • Greatest freedom to use likely to be given to most powerful group (e.g. men) • Least likely to be young females • Problematic as they acquire greater independence and access to substances

  6. So: DH message: ‘Safe, sensible, social’…attempts persuasion

  7. Misses the point! • Getting drunk offers women escape from iconic role, in which: • Less freedom to act out • Denied equal moral worth (Lewis 2009) • Greater stigmatisation of any deviance • Self-empowerment or ‘severity of engagement’ ?

  8. Stigma as social control • Deviant behaviour may be called ‘illness’ • ‘Mutual aid model’ of treatment: internalised moral opprobrium • Functions as lay explanation of ‘unsuitable behaviour’ (Rogers and Pilgrim 2010) • Belief systems have enormous power over how we see mental health (Beresford 2005) and substance use (Staddon 2005) • Treatment as retribution (Hannah-Moffat 2001)

  9. Pleasure in defiance and self-acknowledgement—even delight? • ‘I think I do sometimes see it as allowing me to access something that’s not necessarily accessible otherwise’ (research respondent) • ‘’spose it’s a place of my own’ (research respondent) • ‘Me tits was all hanging out…but I know I’d go for it again’ (research respondent)

  10. In conclusion • Escaping from social expectations is fun • Alcohol helps but seeing certain groups doing so creates unease • Who will look after the shop? • Health fears and stigma as social control • But the fun still beckons….

  11. References • Beresford, P. (2005) ‘Social Approaches to Madness and Distress: User Perspectives and User Knowledges’, Social Perspectives in Mental Health, ed. Tew, J., London: Jessica Kingsley • Hannah-Moffatt, K. (2001) Punishment in Disguise: Penal Governance and Federal Imprisonment of Women in Canada. Toronto: Toronto University Press. • Hunt, G. and Barker, J.C. (2001) ‘Socio-cultural anthropology and alcohol and drug research: towards a unified theory’, Social Science and Medicine 53 pp.165–188. • Lawson, N. (2000) ‘I drink, therefore I am’, Observer, Sunday November 12, 2000. • Lewis, L. (2009) ‘Politics of recognition: what can a human rights perspective contribute to understanding users’ experiences of involvement in mental health services?’ Social Policy and Society 8 (2) pp. 257-274. • Rogers, A. and Pilgrim, D. (2010) ‘Stigma revisited and lay representations of mental health problems’, A sociology of mental health and illness, 4th ed., Maidenhead: Open University Press. • Staddon, P. (2005) ‘Labelling Out: The Personal Account of an Ex-Alcoholic Lesbian Feminist’, in Ettorre, E. (ed.) (2005) Making Lesbians Visible in the Substance Use Field. New York: The Haworth Press.

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