How we are encouraged to drink

Holly Whitaker, author of 'Quit like a woman' talks in an interview with Voque about how we are constantly encouraged to drink and why the mechanism behind this is actually very misogynistic.

Drinking alcohol is part of our culture. And that's where it comes in, according to Holly. “In essence, it's not about the idea that you should never drink a glass of wine again; I especially want to stay away from that Puritan, a kind of 'war on drugs. But to make people aware that if you take alcohol you are in fact using drugs. And then you can decide for yourself whether it enriches your life or not.”

While everyone knows alcohol isn't good for you, Holly points out that we've been drinking more during the pandemic. “It is presented as a coping mechanism. At the start of the pandemic, I noticed that people joked that at least they had enough wine in stock. I even received a letter from the head of a healthcare organization that he had no more toilet paper, but luckily still had enough wine.”

What exactly does alcohol have to do with the women's movement? Holly draws parallels between alcohol and the tobacco industry in her book. Holly: “In advertising, cigarettes (and later also alcohol) and the women's movement were linked. The message: smoking like a man, drinking like a man is the key to our feminist power. Drink was elevated to a symbol of emancipation.”

Today alcohol is seen as a way to keep up as a woman as a beautiful woman, sweet mother, nurturing daughter, compassionate sister, good friend... We stay more and more away from cigarettes, but we find it difficult to let go of alcohol . This is partly due to the alcohol industry, which is still very powerful today.

Are you curious about the rest of the article? check voque.nl† in the new June issue read the entire interview with Holly Whitaker.