Women now drinking like their fathers

DRINKING beer was rare for African women in the olden days. Even if she felt like a few cold ones, she would do it in secret in fear of being labeled as a lady of the night. Society’s permissiveness, the filtering in of western or modern values as well as the mushrooming of many watering holes especially in urban areas has given rise to a new phenomenon of women guzzlers who are frequenting night spots, not only in urban areas, but even in the villages.

Although men have historically been heavier drinkers, the gender gap is proving to be shrinking as evidenced by the huge numbers of women who are taking alcohol. According to data compiled by the World Health Organisation and released recently, Zimbabwean women are among the hardest drinkers on the continent making it into the top six of African women binge boozers.  The data, which tracks drinking patterns across the globe, indicates that 20, 3 percent of local women love their beer.

At the top of the list is South Africa and Zambia, with 41,2 percent of their female populations said to engage in binge drinking.  These are followed by Burkina Faso (36,8 percent), Mozambique (32, 8 percent) and Nigeria (32,9 percent) respectively. Although she acknowledged that drinking is now more common in women than before, Delta beverages marketing manager Patricia Murambinda said women alcohol consumption in Zimbabwe was still low.

“Alcohol consumption by women is still generally low in Zimbabwe, although there are indications that it is slowly picking up especially with the introduction of alcoholic fruit beverages,” she said adding that consumption depended on the type of alcohol.

“Women prefer ‘sweet’ ciders and those with low alcohol content and alcoholic beverages. Women mainly consume alcoholic fruit beverages. From our stable brands like the REDD’s, Sarita, Brutal Fruit and Hunters are women’s favourites mainly because they are sweet.”

Some observers said the rise in alcohol consumption by women may have something to do with subjects of women empowerment campaigns the government has been engaging. “The empowerment campaign the government took in the turn of the millennium is the real game changer. This affirmative action left women on an economically, socially and politically equal footing with their male counterparts,” said social commentator, Edwin Marasha.

“Some women are now economically empowered that they can tell men that take me one mile and I will take you two. This even goes as far as women drinking more than the male species.”

Is it that these alcohol consumption patterns an indicator of a movement towards a genderless society were women can guzzle like men?
Pauline Mbuweni of WaterFalls said having drinks with friends was a way of getting away from loneliness. “I am always home alone during the week as most of my friends go to work so during the weekends I join them for drinks as a way of getting rid of loneliness,” Mbuweni said.

According to researchers, the risks of taking excessive alcohol might far outweigh the benefits especially for women. According to The Centre for Diseases Control although men are more likely to drink alcohol and drink in larger amounts, gender differences in body structure and chemistry cause women to absorb more alcohol, and take longer to break it down and remove it from their bodies.

It further illustrates that women have higher alcohol levels in their blood than men, and the immediate effects occur more quickly and last longer making women more vulnerable to alcohol’s long-term effects on their health. – Nkosana Zulu

newsdesk@fingaz.co.zw