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The article focuses on the analysis of a social setting in which members are forced to reflect on the multiple meanings of masculinity concerning an Alcoholics Anonymous group in a poor district of Mexico City, Mexico. The group is made up of working-class men who for them, abstinence from drink presents acute problems. According to the author, given the centrality of alcohol in the life of the Mexican male, problem drinking is the leading cause of death among males in the productive years of life from 35-65. Mortality from alcohol results directly through cirrhosis or indirectly through accidents and homicide.

The article presents a definition of the term TASTE. When used in an aesthetic context, the term "t." may refer to (1) a person's capacity to perceive and discriminate aesthetic qualities or (2) a person's aesthetic preferences or likings. Both the capacity" and the preferences may be treated factually: we have histories that describe national ts. or changes in t. from epoch to epoch; we have psychological studies of the nature of the capacity and sociological studies of the genetic, cultural, and economic forces that determine the preferences of both individuals and groups.