Drinking and partying among young Muslim women: Exclusion in the context of a normalized youth drinking culture

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

“…As the first author has described in detail elsewhere, drinking alcohol and partying therefore often created conflicts with parents and since the young women participated anyway, their narratives were also filled with how they lied and kept it secret from their parents ( Bærndt & Kolind, 2021 ). This was not easy for the young women, who also reported having a (heavy) guilty conscience and how this affected their sense of self and their feelings of belonging ( Bærndt & Kolind, 2021 ). Finding a way to be at ease with personifying the identity of a drinking Muslim was a central theme in the narratives.…”

“…Therefore, Muslim women in particular risk becoming the focus of malicious gossip, becoming excluded from certain Muslim communities or subjected to stricter social control (Bradby, 2007;Kosnick, 2018;Waltorp, 2015). As the first author has also shown elsewhere (Baerndt & Kolind, 2021), the youth culture of drinking in Denmark has the potential to actualise gender inequality (within their families) for those young Muslim women who wish to participate. The potentiality for conflicts in this regard increases the level of secrecy and dishonesty and, ultimately, this contributes negatively to the young women's feelings of belonging to an ethno-religious community.…”

“… MacLean, 2016 ; Thurnell-Read, 2016 ). Belonging and drinking are tied together, as drinking is a way to consolidate in-group solidarity ( Thurnell-Read, 2016 ) and enable processes of both social inclusion and social exclusion ( Bærndt & Kolind, 2021 ; Herold & Kolind, 2022 ). Consequently, abstainers and light drinkers are minority trajectories in Denmark ( Andrade & Järvinen, 2021 ; Frank et al, 2020 ).…”

Young people's alcohol use is still strongly related to social inclusion

“…For example, drinking still defines how young people build and maintain relationships with friends [6][7][8], perform gender and other identities [8][9][10], participate in the educational system [11] as well as in the local community [12], and transition from childhood into adolescence and further into adulthood [13][14][15]. In addition, studies suggest that non-drinking may increase the risk of social exclusion [3][4][5]. For instance, a recent study of young Danish Muslim women shows how being part of a (mainstream) youth culture of intoxication as a non-or light-drinker without experiencing negative social consequences still requires careful navigation in relation to partying and alcohol use.…”

“…We also need to consider studies that focus on the centrality of drinking practices in the formation of sociality among young people. Doing so will arguably clarify that, despite patterns of decline, alcohol use continues to form both a 'social imperative' [3][4][5] and a widespread 'social technology' [6] for many young people.…”