Women and Alcohol in the United States during the 20th Century
Women and Alcohol in the United States during the 20th Century
- Meg D. O'SullivanMeg D. O'SullivanDepartment of History and Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, State University of New York at New Paltz
Summary
Women in the United States have drunk, made, bought, sold, and organized both against and for the consumption of alcohol throughout the nation’s history. During the second half of the 20th century, however, women became increasingly visible as social drinkers and alcoholics. Specifically, the 1970s and 1980s marked women’s relationship to alcohol in interesting ways that both echoed moments from the past and ushered in new realities. Throughout these decades, women emerged as: (1) alcoholics who sought recovery in Alcoholics Anonymous or a lesser-known all-women’s sobriety program; (2) anti-alcohol activists who drew authority from their status as mothers; (3) potential criminals who harmed their progeny via fetal alcohol syndrome; and (4) recovery memoirists who claimed their addictions in unprecedented ways.
Keywords
Subjects
- Late 19th-Century History
- 20th Century: Pre-1945
- 20th Century: Post-1945
- Cultural History
- Women's History
