Traditional femininity norms and alcohol problems in a Canadian sample of young women

ABSTRACT

The gender gap in drinking has narrowed in recent decades, particularly during young adulthood. In light of this change, the current study examines the relationship between traditional femininity norms and alcohol-related problems for young women, and considers the social contexts of drinking. Young women in Canada (N = 132, ages 19–25, M = 21.64; SD = 2.05) completed measures of past year alcohol problems (Brief Young Adult Alcohol Consequences Questionnaire; Kahler, C. W., D. R. Strong, and J. P. Read. 2005. “Toward efficient and comprehensive measurement of the alcohol problems continuum in college students: The Brief Young Adult Alcohol Consequences Questionnaire.” Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research 29 (7): 1180–1189) and conformity to traditional femininity norms (Conformity to Feminine Norms Inventory-45; Parent, M. C., and B. Moradi. 2010. “Confirmatory factor analysis of the Conformity to Feminine Norms Inventory and development of the CFNI-45.” Psychology of Women Quarterly 34 (1): 97–109). Women also reported the number of drinks they typically consumed in same-gender and mixed-gender social contexts. Specific aspects of traditional femininity related positively, whereas others related inversely, to alcohol problems. Overall, the desire to be thin emerged as the strongest positive correlate, and sexual fidelity was the strongest negative correlate, of alcohol problems. These findings were consistent across social contexts and suggest that body ideals and gender-specific norms associated with young women’s sexuality are particularly salient within the culture of heavy drinking in young adulthood. Clinical implications will also be discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Young women
• traditional femininity
• alcohol use
• alcohol problems

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Ontario Ministry of Research, Innovation and Science: [Early Researcher Award]; Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada: [Canada Research Chairs Program].