More women drinking and researchers wanna know why

[47of74]

Le facepalm

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A team of Iowa State researchers is trying to figure out why more women are drinking.

According to Susan Stewart, Gloria Jones Johnson, and Cassandra Dorius, 52 percent of women reported drinking around seven days in the last month.

The team said there are myths about why this is happening, such as increased social acceptance and stress, but they'd like to learn more and dispel myths by comparing alcohol consumption across social categories.

So far, they've found significant differences in drinking by race and ethnicity. They found that in the last 30 days, 55 percent of white women drank, 46 percent of Hispanic women drank, and 38 percent of black women drank.

Maybe it has something to do with that crazy orange fornicate infesting the White House now.....

[ViolaSebastian]

8 minutes ago, 47of74 said:

Maybe it has something to do with that crazy orange fornicate infesting the White House now.....

And even beyond that, things aren't looking great for women in general right now. It'll be interesting to see what they come up with. 

[catlady]

As much as I don’t want to let the orange monster dictate my behavior, it’s probably a factor for me.  I never drank much beer and stopped drinking liquor some 20 years ago, but for the last several years I’ve favored wine. Kind of as a hobbyist thing where I’d pay attention to varieties and such, and never get drunk.  Then this spring after compiling several mostly-full bottles of vodka, gin, and rum left over from a Christmas party, I began having mixed drinks.  Sometimes every day for a week, and then switch back to plain soda for a while, then back again.  And occasionally get a mild buzz, even on a weeknight.  Now and then it worries me, since there are alcoholics in the family.  I’m looking for patterns to see why I’ve made this change.  One thing I have noticed is that I’ve stopped watching the news, and I tend to read only the headlines in the front section of the paper.  This article makes me feel a tiny bit better.  Not as an excuse to continue, but to figure out why I’ve made this change while keeping it from getting out of control.

[Maggie Mae]

Here's a thought - no one cares if men drink. But when women do it, it's suddenly a Bad Thing that needs to be studied. Because What About The Fetuses! It's Uncouth! Women! Drinking! Grab your pearls!!!! 

Who cares? That's my response. Women are allowed to drink. Just like men, as women are also people, who get to decide what they want to put into their body. 

[Audrey2]

Of course women are drinking more! How else did the researchers think we can handle the Branch Trumpvidians in our life that we have to be around?

[CTRLZero]

I wonder how it breaks down demographically by age.  Since I'm now of an age where we've seen parents and even contemporaries struggle and die, I'm pretty much in full on "eat, drink and be merry" mode.  I've seen how it all ends, whether people take care of themselves or not.  I've even taken to buying wine by the boxful.  Party on, my fellow caregivers! 

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Boots also suggested people find activities to do that don't involve drinking.

Ha ha ha ha ha!  OK, guess I'll think hard on that one.  ?

[Destiny]

11 minutes ago, CTRLZero said:

Since I'm now of an age where we've seen parents and even contemporaries struggle and die, I'm pretty much in full on "eat, drink and be merry" mode.

So much this. Statistically, half my life is over. Don't get me wrong, I still try to make decent choices and exercise and all that, but none of us are going to live forever. I figure I might as well eat Doritos and drink wine, because I'm not getting out of here alive. 

[pook]

I lost my mind when #45 orange was elected, literally.  Anyone with a sound human mind could have predicted what is happening right now.  Honestly you don't have to be really that smart, FML. I HATE the world right now.

[unsafetydancer]

I'm chalking it up to Brexit driving me to drink ?

[Melissa1977]

3 hours ago, Maggie Mae said:

Here's a thought - no one cares if men drink. But when women do it, it's suddenly a Bad Thing that needs to be studied. Because What About The Fetuses! It's Uncouth! Women! Drinking! Grab your pearls!!!! 

Who cares? That's my response. Women are allowed to drink. Just like men, as women are also people, who get to decide what they want to put into their body. 

Exactly. Alcohol (in moderate quantities) is cool. Good taste, good feelings. What's the point in studying that? 

In my Mediterranean country, both men and women have drank wine for thousands of years. Of course, alcohol abuse leads to a lot of problems, but the traditional quantity was just 1 glass at meals. 

At my forties I drink moderately and I doubt my behaviour should be studied.

[Fundie Bunny]

Ohhh, women are having a beer with lunch just as men have always done, why the fuck do they dare to think this would be acceptable behaviour

[ViolaSebastian]

I have to say, though, that if the rate of men who were drinking and/or drinking to excess went up, it'd be important to study the reasons behind it. I think the same holds true for women. Even if they just find that women are drinking more because they want to, that's still a clinical finding. However, from personal experience and this thread, I think they're going to find that women are drinking out of distress, which is an important thing to know clinically. 

[LacyMay]

This has actually been brewing for a while and there's a lot of complex factors including social acceptability and increased marketing to women (as well as likely increased levels of stress) for anyone genuinely interested in the subject Ann Dowsett Johnston wrote a terrific book called "Drink: The Intimate Relationship Between Women and Alcohol."