1. Sober Women's Feminist Resistance to Alcohol Marketing and Cultural Representations of Women's Drinking Practices
- Author
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Davey, Claire
- Subjects
Work-life balance ,Work and family ,Drinking of alcoholic beverages ,Feminism ,Gender equality ,Marketing ,Social networks ,Sociology and social work ,Women's issues/gender studies ,Instagram (Online service) - Abstract
Alcohol is marketed to women as a glamorous and empowering reward for juggling the demands of work and family life. This essay explores the ways in which women who do not drink reject the feminization of alcohol and drinking practices and frame this rejection within discourses of feminist resistance. This essay draws on data collected as part of a mixed-method ethnographic research project that investigates women's use of, and participation in, online sobriety communities. Findings suggest that women who lead or utilize online sobriety communities have considerable awareness of the feminized marketing of alcohol, and some express strong ideological opposition to it. The marketing of alcohol is positioned as a predatory force that takes advantage of women's exhaustion as mothers and perpetuates the double standards associated with women's drinking. Sobriety may prompt a feminist awakening regarding the connections between the feminization of alcohol and women's inequality within society and, in turn, disrupt women's identification with post-feminist cultural representations of women's drinking practices. Through the public identification and critique of these marketing practices, women critically engage with feminism while raising consciousness and building a community of sober women. Keywords: Alcohol, Feminism, Marketing, Online sobriety communities, Sobriety, Introduction This essay explores the ways in which sober women who lead or utilize online sobriety communities reject the marketing of alcohol products to women, including the feminized positioning of [...]
- Published
- 2023