Drinking Like a Guy: Frequent Binge Drinking Among Undergraduate Women

Abstract

The purpose of this exploratory study was to examine why there has been an increase in frequent binge drinking among the most recent generation of female undergraduate students. Specifically, we examined whether female undergraduate women associated being able to “drink like a guy” (e.g., drink large amounts of alcohol, drinking competitively) with gender equality. Focus groups were conducted in March of 2003 with 42 female undergraduate women who consumed alcohol. Participants were recruited from respondents of a random sample survey of undergraduate students attending a large, public university and reflected the demographic characteristics of this population: traditional-age college students (i.e., attending college between 18 and 22 years of age), who were primarily white from middle or upper middle class families and living on or near the college campus. Focus groups were based on drinking trajectories during college (Stable High, Stable Low, Decreasers, Increasers) and sorority status. While women of all drinking levels reported feeling pressure to drink “heavily” because of the favorable impression they could make on their male peers, primarily women who were frequent binge drinkers throughout college felt that “drinking like a guy” described their own drinking behaviors. While women reported that being able to “drink like a guy” provided them with a sense of equality with their male peers, analysis of the transcripts suggests that “drinking like a guy” had less to do with gender equality and more to do with emphasizing women's (hetero)sexuality. Findings are discussed in terms of how “heavy alcohol consumption” affords college women positive attention from their male peers, but likely increases their vulnerability to sexual assault and alcohol use related health problems.

Keywords:

• college undergraduates
• gender
• binge drinking
• women

Notes

^aSince the focus group study was to be conducted in the spring of 2003, it was anticipated that participants of the 2001 Student Life Survey who were in their third or higher year of college would have already graduated.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

AMY M. YOUNG

Amy M. Young, Ph.D., received her doctorate degree in psychology from the University of Michigan and was a National Institute of Drug Abuse funded postdoctorate scholar at the University of Michigan Substance Abuse Research Center (UMSARC). She currently is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Eastern Michigan University. Her research focuses on women and substance use and incorporates a gender-specific model of psychosocial development to understand substance use among females over the lifespan.

MICHELE MORALES

Michele Morales, M.A., M.S.W., obtained her Master's degree in American and Social Work from the University of Michigan and is currently a Ph.D. candidate in the Culture Program at the University of Michigan. Her research interests center around how cultural forces influence the scientific community's conceptualization of alcoholism and sexuality at various historical time periods.

SEAN ESTEBAN McCABE

Sean E. McCabe, Ph.D., holds a joint doctorate degree in education and social work from the University of Michigan and was a National Institute of Drug Abuse funded postdoctorate scholar at the University of Michigan Substance Abuse Research Center (UMSARC). Currently he is an Assistant Research Professor at UMSARC. His research focuses on alcohol consumption among college and high school students and the use of web-based technology to survey students about health risk behaviors.

CAROL J. BOYD

Carol J. Boyd, Ph.D., R.N., F.A.A.N., is a nationally recognized scholar in the study of women and substance abuse and currently occupies the position of Director of the Substance Abuse Research Center at University of Michigan. Her early research examined the circumstances under which women begin to use heroin and crack, although she expanded her work to include cigarettes and alcohol.

HANNAH D'ARCY

Hannah d'Arcy, M.S., received her Master's degree in Biostatistics from the University of Michigan and currently works on various research projects at UMSARC as a statistician.