Drinking and Life: The Meanings of Alcohol for Young Namibian Women

Abstract

Namibia is undergoing rapid changes, in transition from being an apartheid-based colony to being an independent modern democracy. Some young Namibian women express their aspirations and identity through their relationship to alcohol and the meanings they attach to drinking. For some of them, drinking is a means of expressing solidarity and equality, and heavy drinking can be understood as a protest against the lack of opportunities the new Namibia has offered them. For others, choice of drinks and drinking venues can be ways of demonstrating status and distinction. The majority of young Namibian women abstain from drinking alcohol, however, and for some of them, this abstinence is associated with a focus on their aspirations.