Lähentyvätkö naisten ja miesten juomatavat? : Kvalitatiivinen tutkimus sukupuolesta ja juomisesta

One of the greatest changes in the Finnish drinking culture in recent years is that women are drinking more than before. Increasing alcohol consumption and binge drinking among women have often been interpreted as a convergence of feminine and masculine drinking and, specifically, as women becoming more masculine in their drinking. This study aims to examine and assess this view in more depth. The research question is whether the increasing drinking among women can be interpreted to mean that women are drawing closer to masculine drinking also in qualitative terms and that they are adopting characteristics of the masculine drinking culture. By examining the alcohol attitudes of women and men of different ages, the study aims to explore how the two genders and women especially construct and express their gender in drinking, and how this affects the assumption that feminine and masculine drinking styles are converging. The study approaches the theme by analysing how women and men of different ages and of different educational backgrounds discuss their attitudes towards alcohol, the values and norms they associate with drinking, as well as the feminine and masculine traits they assign to alcohol use. The theoretical framework of the study is that gender roles are socially, not biologically, constructed. Following the relational theory of gender, studies on gender representations of alcohol use and thereby discussions on the suggested convergence of feminine and masculine drinking take into account the significance of several factors, such as age, educational background and certain historical context, on the construction of gender (cf. Connell 2012). This study approaches alcohol use not as individual drinking but as collectively shared cultural models of drinking that include culture-specific values and norms guiding alcohol use and that also give a channel for expressing gender in a culturally understandable way (Tigerstedt & Törrönen 2005). The main data for the study consists of focus group interviews carried out in Finland (N = 16) and Sweden (N = 19) with women and men representing four different age groups (women and men born in 1943 - 1950, 1959 - 1966, 1975 - 1982, and 1983 - 1990) and two educational levels. The comparative evaluation of alcohol attitudes in different age groups aims to clarify how the gender convergence approach applies to women and men of different ages. The attention to age groups will also show whether women and men have collectively shared attitudes towards alcohol which could be interpreted as generational experiences of drinking. The study gives both an affirmative and a negative answer to the initial question of whether feminine and masculine drinking habits are converging and whether this development can be interpreted as women adopting more masculine drinking styles. The affirmative answer applies, with certain restrictions, to the youngest age groups of women. It is associated with young women adopting masculine drinking such as binge drinking. However, masculine influences are merging with feminine styles and contexts, resulting in a mix of feminine and masculine traits of drinking that diversifies also the masculine drinking traditions. The negative answer applies to the oldest age group of women. The traditionally feminine values and practices of older women with regard to drinking are in opposition to the assertion of increasing masculinity. These observations indicate that feminine drinking habits have multiple layers. They also reveal the level of challenge and complexity in the debate about the convergence of feminine and masculine drinking. The study shows that there are generational differences in women's drinking habits but not in men's. The oldest and the youngest groups of women in the study are living in different worlds of drinking and have different kinds of generational experiences concerning drinking. Compared to women, men have more uniform drinking attitudes across age groups. While there are no generational differences in masculine drinking habits, there are, nevertheless, differences stemming from educational background that are apparent among both the more educated and the less educated. As a whole, examining potential differences in drinking habits within and across gender groups introduces nuances to the debate about feminine and masculine drinking where gender categories are often perceived as opposite and one-dimensional. This study indicates a blending of feminine and masculine drinking habits. It also shows that there are variations of masculine and feminine gender representations of drinking and increasingly diversified means of expressing gender in drinking.

Grantor dc:publisher

Helsingin yliopisto

Year dc:date.issued

2013

Author dc:creator

• Simonen, Jenni

• sosiologia

Statement dc:rights

• Julkaisu on tekijänoikeussäännösten alainen. Teosta voi lukea ja tulostaa henkilökohtaista käyttöä varten. Käyttö kaupallisiin tarkoituksiin on kielletty.
• This publication is copyrighted. You may download, display and print it for Your own personal use. Commercial use is prohibited.
• Publikationen är skyddad av upphovsrätten. Den får läsas och skrivas ut för personligt bruk. Användning i kommersiellt syfte är förbjuden.

Language dc:language.iso

fin

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/10138/41056

OAI record oai:identifier

https://helda.helsinki.fi/server/oai/request?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=dim&identifier=oai%3Ahelda.helsinki.fi%3A10138%2F41056