Femininities of drinking among Finnish and Swedish women of different ages

Abstract

This article discusses femininities of drinking in Finland and in Sweden. It compares how Finnish and Swedish women define accepted and desired drinking-related femininity. It also asks how femininity related to drinking is constructed and to what traits it is associated with. According to the general assumption increased intoxication oriented drinking among women means that drinking habits and behavior between women and men have become more similar. We rather suggest that women have not only adopted intoxication oriented drinking but they connect it to their feminine identity by shaping it according to their own needs and actions. The analysis is made by using focus group interviews from Finland and Sweden from four different age groups (20 years, 25–30 years, 35–40 years and 50–60 years) and from two educational levels. The data has been analyzed by examining how Finnish and Swedish women construct femininities of drinking while interpreting the pictures of drinking situations. The analysis shows that there is variety of femininities of drinking. Age seems to be an important factor in the construction of femininities; younger and older Finnish and Swedish women relate different traits to drinking-related femininity. It seems that the composition of drinking related gender identity has broadened from traditional hegemonic feminine values to versatility. This relates to the expansion of drinking related actions and the strengthening of drinking related agency among women. Based on these findings, younger generations seem to have a wider variety of drinking related repertoires and ways to interpret femininity than older generations.

• Drinking
• femininities
• focus groups
• gender
• qualitative research