Maturing out of ‘binge drinking’: young adult women’s performance of age and gender in times of transition
Kristine Vaadal, Silje Louise Dahl
Abstract
Alcohol consumption can be an important marker of transitions. In this article, we focus on the process of becoming an adult drinker, to which ‘maturing out’ of earlier drinking styles is central. Drinking style also plays a part in the construction of gender, and we explore how age and gender interact in young adult women’s accounts of maturing out of binge drinking practices. The analysis is based on qualitative interviews with 19 Norwegian women (27–34 years old). The participants performed age and gender through their accounts of drinking, by 1) Creating intimacy through drinking, 2) Monitoring their drinking and 3) Re-contextualising pleasure from drinking. The participants’ performance of age entailed accounting for their drinking largely in terms of conventional femininity. However, by simultaneously emphasising pleasure in their alcohol consumption, the participants retained independence and empowerment even when facing demands to become more conventional (in terms of femininity) as they matured.