The main question I think we should be asking ourselves is this: “If I could find another way to deal with mommy anxiety, guilt, pressure, and monotony, would I try it?” The last place on earth you’d expect for a wine joke to fall flat is around a bunch of mom bloggers. They practically invented sayings like […]
I don’t want to be one of those women who thinks that wine soothes the strain of parenting, that a cocktail with an umbrella makes a vacation, that girls’ nights or date nights run smoother with a glass in your hand. The first step isn’t to admit I have a problem. I don’t. Before I […]
Trying to keep up appearances to myself, I never drank before 5pm. Except when I did. CN: alcoholism, addiction The kiss lingers. Not because of the man, but rather because he hadn’t swallowed his last sip of bourbon. He’s a lip kisser. But this was more—drops of smoky liquid passing from his lips to mine. […]
If we were to believe the standard script on the matter, we would think that alcohol was a universal driver of sex, the provider of a good excuse for doing something your sober self wouldn’t have, and also the culprit when things get messy. (Content Warning: sexual violence, rape culture, alcohol use) The first time I […]
A woman should be able to pass out drunk in a stranger’s room and—get this!—not get raped. I barely remember some of my best stories from college. One good one I can jog most of the details from was during a trip to Germany for Oktoberfest. I. Got. Trashed. I don’t know why, but when I get drunk in […]
The hard work isn’t for us to finally confront alcohol. The hard work is for us to finally confront the learned impulses in men, sometimes enabled by alcohol and sometimes not, to pursue sex at all costs. Sarah Hepola’s longform piece for the Texas Monthly on Thursday is a winding story of alcoholism, blackouts, sex, […]
I’d like to argue that I’m just as present when I have a beer in me as when I don’t, but that’s probably not altogether true. “Mama, put down your beer so we can play tag!” says my son, alerting me to the fact that the drink in my hand is not only being noticed by […]
Every night out began with an interrogation: Was I having a good time? How was that even possible? Did I think I was better than her because I didn’t drink? Sober people are the worst. They don’t understand pleasure. They are afraid of experimenting, afraid of hurting themselves, and afraid of having a good time. Sober […]
I didn’t start drinking because of my alcoholic daddy issues, but in spite of them. Last week Jezebel ran a piece on women who drink like men, and I saw myself in it. Lisa Wade, commenting on why women overdo it with the bottle, pointed out that many of us drink competitively, to keep up with the boys. In […]
