If you’re on social media, then chances are you have seen a meme that relates to drinking alcohol. Have you ever thought about how many of these drinking memes relate to women? In particular, wine and women seem to go hand-in-hand everywhere, from memes to marketing tactics. For example, at a bar I used to work at, we started “Wine Wednesday” to specifically draw women into the bar. Look at the meme below, which mentions “wine o’clock”– a phrase I have heard women refer to a lot recently.
How are these messages influencing women and alcohol consumption? I believe it is normalizing the behavior, and it seems like there is humor surrounding dealing with life issues by drinking. This theme might make women less likely to cope with struggles in a healthy manor. I was shocked when I saw the meme below–“Never ask a woman drinking wine straight from the bottle how she’s doing”–by how direct these messages can be in encouraging poor behavior.
One doctor says that these kinds of memes have created an easy way to “relax and reward” in a dangerous way. Instead of dealing with real life issues, such as anxiety, women may turn to alcohol in order to feel better. I also know plenty of women that use wine as a way to sleep at night and choose to consume it before going to bed. Wine is used to “unwind” and is seen as a positive reinforcement–a dangerous cycle women can fall into. A women with a drinking problem may be hard to spot due to the way we have normalized the consumption of wine.
When looking into the relationship of wine and anxiety, I came across this website for a vineyard that has a page dedicated to how wine induces relaxation and stress relief. What’s the picture they chose for the article? A peaceful looking woman sniffing a glass of wine. The sad truth is that wine can actually exacerbate the feelings of anxiety and stress. This article outlines the effects of alcohol and anxiety. Alcohol is a depressant, and although it may give a euphoric feeling as your BAC rises, however, as your BAC falls, it can cause depressive feelings. Alcohol-induced anxiety is common, and using wine as a way to “unwind” at the end of a stressful day may be counteractive.
This study looked gender differences and the coping mechanisms related to drinking alcohol. The study found that women with low depressive symptoms were more likely to drink as a coping mechanism. In other words, coping by drinking alcohol isn’t confined to those with deeper mental health issues. This is also concerning because it makes the problem hard to identify.
More awareness is needed on the harm these memes and messages may be causing women. It seems like there is a huge movement recently to support mental health, and it doesn’t seem far-fetched to encourage people to think about the effect these messages may have on women’s mental health and coping habits.