Consuming Male Identities: Masculinities, Gender Relations and Alcohol Consumption in Aotearoa New Zealand

Abstract

The excessive and public consumption of alcohol with other men has been a traditional indication of manliness in Western cultures for many years. However, over the last two decades, this association has been eroded, in part through increased consumption by women. Within the gender‐relational context of this increase, we empirically explore ways in which particular (friendship) groups of young men and women (re)construct masculine identities. The male participants demonstrated greater discursive flexibility in enacting their gender identities through alcohol consumption compared with earlier NZ research although also greater constraints on change compared with more recent UK research. A minority of men constructed themselves as atypical in that they did not like rugby, beer or consuming vast quantities of alcohol. These men were all in professional occupations, and we speculate that their social class and financial status may enable them to negotiate alternative demonstrations of masculinity. We conclude that these findings could be explicated through an examination of national gendered identities that arose out of a pioneer culture, and the commodification of gender identities through alcohol consumption. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

‘Drink a 12 box before you go’: pre-loading among young people in Aotearoa New Zealand

“…Our data reflect women's interest in intoxication but this is interwoven with rituals of preparation and practices of control of the price and timing of their socialising. Among male participants, pre-loading practices were more consistently encompassed within and interpreted as demonstrating hegemonic masculine drinking styles (Willott & Lyons 2012).…”

Contextualizing Students’ Alcohol Use Perceptions and Practices within French Culture: An Analysis of Gender and Drinking among Sport Science College Students

“…In French university cultures, as well as in the United States, Germany, Spain (Zimmermann, Sieverding, & Muller, 2011), Australia, New Zealand (Willott & Lyons, 2012), and the United Kingdom (Allen-Collinson & Brown, 2012), frequent and heavy consumption of alcohol is a cultural practice integrated into many festive and ritual practices (Masse, 2002). These practices often directly or indirectly involve the construction of masculinity (Peralta, 2007;Willott and Lyons, 2012;Zimmermann et al, 2011), or more specifically, hegemonic masculinity (Connell, 1995). Hegemonic masculinity connotes aspiring or identifying with dominant assumptions of what it means to be a "real man," and characteristics such as risk-taking, aggression, sexism, and heavy drinking are taken to be part of a socially constructed system of gender relations, specific to cultures and historic epochs.…”

“…Gender, as framed by concepts such as hegemonic gender identities and gendered cultural norms, has been explored via alcohol use behavior (Guise & Gill, 2007;Palmer, 2014;Peralta, 2008;Willott & Lyons, 2012;Wilsnack & Wilsnack, 1997). In relation to the social construction of drinking roles, highly gendered representations of drinking have been reported (Nahoum Grappe, 1987Palmer, 2011Palmer, , 2014Peralta, 2007;Prus, 1983), with men's drinking traditionally associated with "manliness," "virility," strength, courage, and performance.…”

“…In many contemporary societies, such traditional gender norms are being challenged by increasing alcohol use among women and girls (Guise & Gill, 2007;Palmer, 2014;Willott & Lyons, 2012) and by regarding alcohol use as symbolic of independence, assertiveness, freedom, and self-assurance (Beck et al, 2006;Macneela & Bredin, 2011). However, a gender double standard vis-à-vis alcohol use has been highlighted (for example, see Peralta, 2010;de Visser & McDonnell, 2012) in that more critical and judgmental attitudes are evident towards women's drinking, even among those with relatively egalitarian gender attitudes.…”

“…For example, scholars have argued that more complex and "inclusive" forms of masculinity are now permitted and encouraged within certain contexts (for examples, see Anderson, 2009;Willott & Lyons, 2012). In addition, decreasing levels of alcohol consumption among more "sober" men have been viewed as a symbol of self-control (Beck et al, 2006), including among professional men whose social class and financial status, it is argued, permit them to construct "alternative" demonstrations of masculinity (Willott and Lyons, 2012). Within sporting cultures, central elements of Connell's concept nevertheless remain analytically useful.…”