Why Sobriety is a superpower for women
empowered woman
what do you think when you hear that
phrase i visualize a woman who
realizes her value can reach her
potential
and can break through discrimination
that
exists in the world well we’re still
fighting for equal rights
like body autonomy and equal pay
one often overlooked and surprising key
to empowerment
happens to be in our beverage of choice
as women we can take our power back by
not drinking alcohol we’re told we need
alcohol to look sexy
feel desirable to have fun to be
ourselves
to be moms to flirt and to live it’s
marketed and sold as a required
accessory to being a woman
but the truth sobriety is the ultimate
form of female
empowerment you might remember seeing a
black and white photograph
from the pre-prohibition era a group of
women holding a sign
lips that touch liquor shall not touch
ours
it may seem antiquated now it’s a very
timely parallel to the social
impact of drinking today alcohol abuse
was
rampant at the turn of the 20th century
and some of the epidemic’s biggest
victims were women
not because of their own drinking back
then women were not allowed at
saloons or anywhere alcohol was served
this campaign came about because
women were left to deal with the
financial consequences and repercussions
when
their husbands spent the household
income on alcohol
additionally it was found that there’s a
strong correlation between alcohol and
domestic violence which sadly
is still true today this movement gave
women a political voice
back when they didn’t have much of a
voice the power of their own
influence which inevitably led to a
national ban of alcohol
set the women’s movement on fire it’s
not a coincidence that the 18th
amendment enacting prohibition is
right before the 19th amendment giving
women the right to vote
so much has changed since the
prohibition era of course
women were free to have careers and have
more financial freedom
and with that drinking became more
socially acceptable
women’s independence and increased
alcohol consumption
became a marketing strategy and this
goes
well beyond bars and pubs holding things
like
ladies night events the entire alcohol
industry has seized the marketing
opportunity
of female empowerment and has
essentially
taken it over to raise their bottom line
just look down the aisles of your local
grocery store or liquor store
and you’ll see the increase of alcoholic
beverage options specifically targeting
women
ciders coffee liquor pink bottles of
vodka
fancy lettering and pretty packaging
taste
nutrition content and female celebrity
and social media
influencers as spokeswoman all curated
specifically to entice women now it
isn’t new to objectify women to sell
alcohol to men
but in the last decade alcohol companies
have shifted
to align their brands with themes of fun
sophistication
female connection and yes empowerment
marketing efforts encourage women to get
together drink like the boys and toast
one another in celebration
now this is done not only to attract
female customers but
influence how alcohol is perceived by
masses
that it’s cool sexy and necessary
and deeper still past advertisements tv
series
movies portray sophisticated lifestyles
associated with women who drink alcohol
it’s nearly impossible to get through a
netflix episode
without an example of a woman who drinks
depicted as
charming funny and yes
empowered the alcohol industry isn’t the
first to infiltrate advertising and
media
or to link gender equality with products
the nicotine industry perfected this in
do you remember the virginia slim ad
you’ve come a long way baby
cigarette ads started popping up in the
70s encouraging women to smoke to stay
slender
feel powerful and equal to men
smoking was not only considered a symbol
of independence and
sophistication but a woman’s right
alcohol beverage marketers are following
suit
in the 2000s the message we’re sold is
that alcohol is a required accessory to
being a woman
unfortunately the messaging is working
there’s a shift in the drinking patterns
of millennial women and women of
childbearing age showing a scary
increase
in the normalization of binge drinking
glamorization of alcohol
and the mommy wine culture have flooded
our inboxes
our stores and our social circles
during the current pandemic it’s been
hard to ignore the drinking memes about
quarantines and day drinking messaging
all geared toward women
especially moms moms who are home with
their children more
imparting more of an influence and
example
and showing their children that they
need a beverage
to survive them all in the name of a
joke
now why is this all so bad what’s wrong
with jokes about mommy juice and pink
wine bottles
five years ago i would have loved that
alcohol companies were targeting me with
cute pink cans of wine and hilarious
tongue-in-cheek means
in fact i did love it i used
all of that marketing and all of those
jokes as justification
for my escalating alcohol use disorder
my nightly glass of wine
turned to two or three and a whole
bottle and more
i questioned my own use for a very long
time and yet
i looked around me and felt consistently
justified
even comforted with the sense that
regular binge drinking
was normal thankfully for me and for my
husband and our five kids
i found sobriety four years ago and
through my experiences
as a woman in recovery and as a
certified recovery coach
i now see things very differently i’ve
experienced the transformation not only
in myself
but in hundreds of other women who have
taken their power back
from a dangerous drug yes
alcohol is a drug no matter how you
bottle it
flavor it decorate it alcohol is ethanol
and ethanol is a group one carcinogen
it’s a neurotoxin
it’s linked to numerous diseases in the
body it weakens the immune system
significantly
it’s strongly linked to declining mental
health contributes to memory problems
and dementia
and greatly increases depression and
anxiety it kills more people
than all other drugs combined illicit or
prescription
alcohol kills twice as many people
yet it’s been so glamorized and
normalized that drinking alcohol
anywhere and everywhere is considered a
normal activity
the scary thing about these increasing
drinking rates
is that women are at a higher risk for
alcohol misuse
and drinking related long-term health
problems these days
everyone’s drinking more but the rate at
which women are drinking
at high risk levels binge drinking and
dying from alcohol related causes is
skyrocketing
deaths of rural white women in their
early 50s from cirrhosis of the liver
have
doubled since the end of the 20th
century at a time when
medical science is at an all-time high
the data is even more bleak for women of
color
data shows that there’s been even
greater increase in drinking rates among
non-white american women
it’s been expressed that educational
housing
employment and health disparities along
with many other factors
may have led to increased alcohol use as
a coping behavior
as much as we want equality as women
drinking like the boys
should not be something that women
strive for
according to research by the national
institute on alcohol abuse and
alcoholism
niaa the effects of alcohol on women
versus men
are not equal women metabolize alcohol
much differently than men and it’s not
just because
of the difference in size a man and a
woman of the exact same weight
will still feel the effects of alcohol
differently
and it will impact their health
differently for numerous reasons
women’s bodies contain much less water
which leads to a higher alcohol
concentration
than men we produce less of the enzyme
that breaks down alcohol
and our higher body fat content retains
it longer
long-term effects are also intensified
in women we’re more susceptible to
alcohol-related brain damage
and liver damage than men and it’s shown
to damage our organs
in a much shorter period of time there’s
a known increase
for heart disease and cancer risk among
women who use alcohol
and in fact the threshold of elevated
risk
is as low as one drink a day for certain
cancers
one to two drinks per day increases the
risk of breast cancer
by 30 to 50 percent just this year the
american cancer society changed their
stance on alcohol stating that
cutting out alcohol entirely is the best
choice for cancer reduction
and prevention however an ironic
phenomenon in the alcohol industry
exists
called paint washing pink washing is
when companies engage in
breast cancer awareness activities like
the pink ribbon campaign
while selling products that are known to
be carcinogenic
and numerous cancer charities have
partnered with alcohol companies
raising funds for breast cancer
treatment or prevention
by promoting the purchase of certain
alcoholic beverages
the very organizations raising funds for
cancer research
are funded by and also promote products
that are proven to raise cancer risk
contributing
in the name of prevention certainly not
in women’s best interests
let alone empowering trish hepworth
who’s the director of policy and
research for the foundation of alcohol
research and education
says what women deserve is to enjoy a
healthy lifestyle
they certainly don’t deserve to get
alcohol-related diseases
such as breast cancer as women it’s time
once again to take a stand similar to
the women in the pre-prohibition era
holding their sign
we can take a stand by educating
ourselves
being critical and making informed
decisions about
alcohol we can empower ourselves in each
other with knowledge about alcohol and
its impact on our bodies
listen to these testimonials from
alcohol-free women
celeste says i know that i’m better off
with no alcohol at all
i know that i’m stronger happier safer
and that my life is more beautiful
sobriety didn’t just serve me it saved
me
it saved my family too that feels
powerful
michelle adds when i was drinking it
slowly took away my power to choose
and make good decisions as i began to
explore alcohol-free living it quickly
became clear i was living an honest and
authentic life
i never wanted to escape from sobriety
has delivered everything
alcohol promises and jen goes on to say
i once believed alcohol gave me the
courage to be myself
yet sobriety has shown me that i’m
courageous all on my own
without ever having to trade anything in
exchange
as women we can reject the idea that
alcohol is needed to improve our lives
in any way
rather than believe that substance makes
us more fun or more social
or more desirable we can embrace being
ourselves
and show the world that we are enough
we can take our power back by not
becoming intoxicated and putting
ourselves at higher risk for injury and
accidents
we can wake up clear-headed without a
hangover
we can be in control of our lives we can
be present for special moments
we no longer need to give into a status
quo that tells us
alcohol is necessary to be an empowered
woman
every time i say no i don’t drink
i feel empowered i’m choosing my own
path
i’m choosing my health my well-being
and choosing myself i’m a better partner
for my spouse
i’m a better example for my children
choosing to be sober in a world
obsessed with booze and inundated with
alcohol marketing
that is empowering