Dilemmas of belonging: Young Muslim women in the Danish youth alcohol culture

Abstract

Aim: Focusing on drinking and partying among young Muslim women in Denmark, our aim was to examine how the drinking practices of young Muslim women are influenced by belonging, understood as sentiments of (national) belonging as well as the broader (politicised) discourse on Muslims in Denmark. Methods and data: Based on 32 qualitative in-depth interviews with young Muslim women, this paper explores their drinking practices as situated in a national youth culture highly influenced by alcohol intoxication. We draw on Nira Yuval-Davies’ (2006) distinction between belonging (as emotional attachment) and the politics of belonging. Findings: We found that the young women attempt to avoid negative comments based on stereotypes of Muslims and their drinking, by toning down being a Muslim. In addition, we showed how the difficulties of drinking alcohol while being both Muslim and Danish leads to several of the young women experiencing an ‘identity crisis’. Lastly, we found that a way for the studied women to reconcile Muslim and Danish identities is through faith, namely through actively choosing what kind of Muslim they want to be. Conclusion: Being part of a national youth culture of alcohol intoxication is inevitably dilemma-filled for the study's participants and they are challenged in their belonging. We argue that these dilemmas do not stand alone, but rather point to the broader predicaments of these women in Danish society.

“Then someone takes my picture…” and other disrupted (drinking) stories: constructing narratives about alcohol and intoxication among young Muslim women in Denmark

“…Recent research on Muslim women and youth drinking culture in Denmark has demonstrated that they face several dilemmas because they belong to a normalized youth drinking culture and a community where abstinence is mostly cherished (Baerndt and Kolind, 2021;Baerndt and Frank, 2022). They are navigating contrasting expectations and facing challenges within their friends' and peers' arena and at family and community levels.…”

“…For instance, they work actively to avoid negative stereotypes of Muslims in youth drinking contexts by toning down being a Muslim. Furthermore, despite what many describe as having an identity crisis caused by their surroundings' failure to acknowledge how their Muslim and Danish identities coexist, many do find ways to reconcile these identities (Baerndt and Kolind, 2021;Baerndt and Frank, 2022). However, the drinking culture still seems to be excluding for young Muslim women, regardless of whether they drink alcohol.…”

“…Against the backdrop of the already dilemma-filled everyday lives of a Muslim minority youth, who are pulled in different directions by different actors (Bærndt and Frank, 2022; Fallov and Birk, 2020; Khawaja, 2011), this article explores what happens when investigating drinking stories from a different perspective than that of young majority men. Young white men have been the main characters in much research so far – with a few exceptions that center women and the meaning of gender (Cullen, 2011; Sheehan and Ridge, 2001; Griffin et al , 2009; Killingsworth, 2006).…”

Bridging academia and Nordic Societies

“…A quarter of the articles published on the site originate directly from NAD. For example, these three articles written in English – (1) a Norwegian study exploring whether various interventions had any impact on drug overdose trends ( Amundsen et al, 2024 ); (2) a Swedish study investigating possible associations between problematic familial alcohol use and adolescent outcomes ( Wahlström et al, 2023 ); and (3) a Danish study focusing on the dilemma-filled relationship with drinking and partying among young Muslim women in Denmark ( Bærndt & Frank, 2023 ) – have corresponding articles published in PopNAD ( Amundsen, 2023 ; Bærndt, 2023 ; Wahlström, 2023 ) written in Norwegian, Swedish and Danish, respectively.…”

The importance of debunking constructions

“…Humans arrange their observations and comprehensions in certain ways for the world to make sense. In this issue of the NAD , Bærndt and Frank (2023) discuss the ways in which young Muslim women reflect upon themselves as part of Danish alcohol culture. The authors delve into the women's meaning-making of how others understand and categorise them in relation to certain (social) constructions.…”