Abstract
Mothers' alcohol consumption has often been portrayed as problematic: firstly, because of the effects of alcohol on the foetus, and secondly, because of the association between motherhood and morality. Refracted through the disciplinary lens of public health, mothers' alcohol consumption has been the target of numerous messages and discourses designed to monitor and regulate women's bodies and reproductive health. This study explores how mothers negotiated this dilemmatic terrain, drawing on accounts of drinking practices of women in paid work in the early parenting period living in Northern England in 2017-2018. Almost all of the participants reported alcohol abstention during pregnancy and the postpartum period and referred to low-risk drinking practices. A feature of their accounts was appearing knowledgeable and familiar with public health messages, with participants often deploying 'othering', and linguistic expressions seen in public health advice. Here, we conceptualise these as Assumed Shared Alcohol Narratives (ASANs). ASANs, we argue, allowed participants to present themselves as morally legitimate parents and drinkers, with a strong awareness of risk discourses which protected the self from potential attacks of irresponsible behaviour. As such, these narratives can be viewed as neoliberal narratives, contributing to the shaping of highly responsible and self-regulating subjectivities.
Highlights
In England, over the last 30 years, female alcohol consumption has become the subject of growing public health concerns (Smith & Foxcroft, 2009)
The findings presented to describe the forms Assumed Shared Alcohol Narratives (ASANs) took in participants’ accounts, allowing us to understand their narrative work around drinking
We propose that ASANs contribute to the construction of a subjectivity that is highly health conscious, self-surveillant and oriented to orthodox public health messages, while replicating neoliberal discourses around responsibility for personal health and the health of others (Lupton, 1999)
Summary
In England, over the last 30 years, female alcohol consumption has become the subject of growing public health concerns (Smith & Foxcroft, 2009). The gender gap in alcohol consumption and related harm, is narrowing, due to an overall increase in women's drinking in all adult age groups, in young adults and women in midlife (ONS, 2018). This trend, largely attributed to the growing female presence in the social and economic arenas, has been accompanied by changes to traditional norms regulating female drinking practices, associated with control and moderation Emslie et al, 2015). Emslie et al, 2015; Killingsworth, 2006; Waterson, 2000). The phenomenon known as ‘wine-o ’-clock’ (i.e. regular home drinking performed by mothers with young children), represented as a shared and pleasurable experience, but one requiring a degree of legitimation, has received considerable media attention, both pre-and post-‘lockdown’ (Flynn, 2019; Morrison, 2020)
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