Heavy drinking as phenomenon: gender and agency in accounts of men’s heavy drinking

ABSTRACT

Alcohol consumption is a significant public health concern in Australia, with men disproportionately represented in treatment for health issues related to heavy drinking. Despite this, little is known about the experiences of these men or the gender dynamics that may shape heavy drinking. Increasingly, the treatment of alcohol and other drug-related issues, including those related to heavy drinking, is based on a biopsychosocial approach. Within this framework, heavy drinking is understood as a symptom of individual pathology in the context of various social ‘factors’ that influence individual capacity to exercise agency. Following the work of Karen Barad, this article employs a feminist science studies account of agency to formulate heavy drinking as a gendered ‘phenomenon’: enacted and sustained through the ‘intra-action’ of other phenomena. Drawing on interviews with men who drink heavily, our analysis explores how the phenomenon of men’s heavy drinking materialises through the intra-actions of gender, isolation and healthcare. We argue that heavy drinking is not a sign of failed individual agency but an expression of entangled agencies. In concluding, we suggest it is possible to enhance the well-being of men who drink heavily by addressing specific gendered intra-actions in the making of heavy drinking.

KEYWORDS:

• Drinking
• men
• gender
• agency
• phenomenon

Acknowledgements

The authors thank the men who took part in this study and shared their perspectives on drinking. Interviews were conducted by Renae Fomiatti and Piotr Maron. The research on which this article draws is based on qualitative research by researchers from La Trobe University’s Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society (ARCSHS), in collaboration with South Western Sydney Local Health District. Livesofsubstance.org is a collaboration with Healthtalk Australia (http:// healthtalkaustralia.org), an Australian research consortium that conducts qualitative research into personal experiences of health and illness. Further Perspectives on Alcohol (https://www.livesofsubstance.org/further-perspectives-on-alcohol/) is a stand-alone website module.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The research was funded by a grant from Drug Health Services, South Western Sydney Local Health District.