An Exploratory Study of Gender and Changes in Alcohol Consumption: A Qualitative Approach

Consistent research shows that men drink more, and more often than women, although recent findings suggest that this gender difference may be diminishing. This exploratory qualitative analysis offers a “micro” perspective on the possible attitudes, beliefs, and social interactions that underlie these aggregate findings. Using semi-structured qualitative interviews with 18 men and women from three age and ethnic groups, this study explores changes in behaviors and attitudes regarding gender and drinking in the US. Findings suggest increasingly egalitarian gender role attitudes with respect to alcohol use accompanied by decreasing stigma for women’s drinking. There were three distinct stigma patterns; stigma for alcohol use by anyone, which appeared to be influenced by religion and ethnicity; stigma for alcohol use among women in particular, which was influenced by age, gender-role attitudes, college, and employment and; stigma for alcohol use specifically for women with young children, which appeared to influenced by family roles and responsibilities. Changes in drinking norms are discussed in relation to increasingly gender-segregated work, family, and leisure roles, individual vs. gendered responsibilities for drinking behavior and current demographic trends.