Drinking alcohol is not an act of feminist rebellion
Some thoughts on alcohol's harm on International Women's Day
It’s International Women’s Day and in honour of this I wanted to highlight the misinformation shared about alcohol and how this affects women. Drinking alcohol is often seen as some kind of feminist act of resistance (remember when Big Tobacco did this with cigarettes? en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T…)
A real act of resistance is to question why our society believes that it’s necessary to regularly consume a harmful drug that numbs us out temporarily.
A real act of resistance is to instead choose a path of clarity that enables us to stand up to the systems (including the alcohol industry) that seeks to extract profit from us at all costs.
So here is some info:
Alcohol is NOT safe to drink during pregnancy. FFS - it’s a carcinogenic neurotoxin that contributes to 200 health conditions and impacts every part of the body. Why would it not affect the growing baby?? I see it being sold as some kind of empowering choice in the face of attempts to control the female body. Who exactly is benefiting from a pregnant person drinking poison? Women should be supported to make informed decisions and the research shows that even moderate drinking increases the risk of foetal alcohol syndrome. More info here: depts.washington.edu/fa…
WHO guidelines state that NO amount of alcohol is safe to drink, for anyone. movendi.ngo/science-dig…
Drinking alcohol, even in moderation, significantly increases a woman’s risk of breast cancer with 1 in 10 cases of breast cancer each year linked to alcohol cancerresearchuk.org/ab…
Alcohol affects female hormones (academic.oup.com/alcalc…) affecting fertility (alcoholchange.org.uk/al…) and making symptoms of PMS, PMDD and menopause so much worse and more difficult to cope with.
Women are at greater risk of the harms caused by alcohol than men bbc.co.uk/future/articl…
Alcohol makes motherhood harder. Even drinking small amounts negatively affects sleep, and it increases stress and anxiety. There are wider systemic issues at play that make modern motherhood so difficult, and temporarily numbing out from them with a drug that damages our mental and physical health is not the answer.
If we know the truth, we can make informed decisions. If we know the actual risks, we can make the choices we want to make for our health.
Numbing out and putting money into the pockets of Big Alcohol does not sound like feminist rebellion to me.
Choosing not to drink in a society obsesses with alcohol is the true radical act. Choosing to protect our health over regular drug use is a radical act.
Choosing to stay present, clear and taking back your power is a real act of feminist rebellion.
Quick reminder…
You can explore self-care for sobriety in a free workshop I’m holding on Tuesday 11 March, 10am UK time. Register your place here.
In case you missed it…
No, you don’t have to call yourself an alcoholic
Such important information Ellie, I love the idea of choosing to not drink alcohol being an act of resistance. It certainly feels rebellious! Xx
Our daughter has Foetal Alcohol Syndrome due to being exposed in the womb to alcohol by her birth mum, a constant reminder of the vast damage it does. A foetus doesn’t have a fully functioning liver, it’s bloody ridiculous for people to think it’s ok to drink during pregnancy!