Alcohol is a feminist issue

Alcohol is a feminist issue. In 1978 the writer and psychoanalyst Susie Orbach published one of the most important books in modern feminist literature since Germaine Greer's 'The Female Eunuch'. Reflecting the growth in obsession over women's bodies, dieting, their relationship with food and our image obsessed society, 'Fat Is A Feminist Issue' has put body image at the centre of debates surrounding women's rights ever since. Today, whilst images of the female body continue to be highly contested and a new generation of assertive and proactive women leads the charge to abolish everyday sexism in the guise of the Sun's Page Three, the threat to women's physical bodies has never been greater. A new report showing that half of all women in Britain are likely to have been physically or sexually assaulted also puts alcohol in the frame as one of the chief aggravating factors in this shocking epidemic of violence. Alcohol, a drug that is everywhere and that is naturalised and normalised by advertising and popular culture, is actually implicated in countless crimes against women. In short, alcohol is a feminist issue, and perhaps the pre-eminent one of our times. The Violence Against Women report by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, published last week showed that Britain was one of the most violent countries in Europe when it came to sexual and physical assaults on women by men, with the country exceeding the EU average for sexual violence by 11 percent. The report cited Britain's drinking culture as a key exacerbating feature of this violence, not only does alcohol make people more likely to do violent things that they would be very unlikely to do when sober, it also puts drunk women in very vulnerable situations. Even though these figures have now been made available and alcohol's role in such widespread violence and suffering is abundantly clear, our government has uttered little more than a murmur. Ministers are content to remind us that the distillers, brewers and supermarkets are all committed to 'responsibility deals'; meaning that the government will not regulate or dare we say 'govern' this incredibly powerful industry, no matter the harm to the public. A responsibility deal amounts to little more than a PR campaign to shift sole responsibility for the effects of excessive drinking on to the shoulders of the drinker. Men are the victims of alcohol fuelled violence too, but the disproportionate manner in which women are harmed by this powerful, intoxicating, addictive drug sure makes the availability, pricing and aggressive promotion of it one of the key issues in women's rights today.