The public face of binge drinking: British and Danish young women,recent trends in alcohol consumption and the European binge drinking debate

Abstract

International and national data sets are utilized to compare changes in young women’s alcohol consumption between the UK and Denmark, two European countries renowned for their alcohol-related problems. Explanations for young women’s increased sessional drinking have previously focused on the public spectacle of the binge drinker and the notion of a ‘convergence’ between women’s and men’s consumption patterns, incomes and broader lifestyles. An apparent decline in young women’s binge drinking and weekly drinking in both countries since 2000 is counterbalanced by more frequent drinking, home drinking and wine drinking into middle age, associated with professional occupations. In the face of an enduring polarization of the public excesses of youth with supposedly civilized moderation within the home, the article argues for a more nuanced understanding of the relationship between alcohol, women’s changing lives and northern European drinking cultures.