Societal values placed on women who drink alcohol

Societal values placed on women who drink alcohol regularly
How it affects the body
– Metabolism and Excretion
• 10% is excreted unchanged through sweat, urine, or exhalation.
• 90% is metabolized primarily by the liver, ultimately winding up as carbon dioxide and water.
– The liver detoxifies alcohol at a rate of about 0.5 ounces per hour.
• There is no way to speed up this process.
Reasons college age women drink
• To lessen sexual inhibitions
• To escape
• To relieve worrying
• To become less self-conscious
• To reduce depression
• To relieve stress and anxiety
• To feel more sociable
• To decrease inhibitions
• For the “high” that results
• To be part of the group
Binge drinking is consuming four or more drinks in a row for women
Negative consequences associated with overconsumption
• Hormonal Effects
• Dieting Relationship
• Disease Development
• Ethnicity Relationship
• Behavioral Effects, e.g., impaired ability to function socially
• Social Effects
• Economic Effects

• Effects on Relationships
Alcohol Use: Gender Differences
• Men metabolize alcohol faster than women
• A person’s size also influences the effects of a given amount of alcohol
• Hormones affect alcohol metabolism
• Alcohol consumption can affect pregnancy
Drinking on Campus
• Binge drinkers are more likely to:
• Miss class.
• Not use protection when engaging in sex.
• Engage in unplanned sexual activity.
• Get into trouble with campus police.
• Damage property.
• Get injured.
• Engage in dangerous driving behaviors.
• Disturb, insult, quarrel with, or assault others.
• Require care from others while being sick from drunkenness.
• Secondhand Binge Effects
– Being interrupted while studying.
– Being awakened at night.
– Having to take care of a drunken fellow student.
– Being insulted or humiliated by a drunken student.
– Being pushed, hit, or assaulted by a drunken student.
– Being the victim of sexual assault.
• 25% of college students abuse alcohol to a degree that it adversely affects their academic
progress, personal relationships, and health.
• 20% of college students meet the criteria for alcohol dependence.
The Effects of Alcohol on Behavior
• About 32% of nearly 34,000 annual highway fatalities involve people who are intoxicated.
• Alcohol’s effects on motor skills, judgment, and reaction times
• Each year, there are more than 170 million episodes of alcohol-impaired driving in the United
States.

• Sexual Behavior
– Sexual behavior changes vary according to the BAC and from person to person.
– Small amounts of alcohol may make individuals lose their sexual inhibitions.
– Larger amounts of alcohol may:
• Cause a man to have difficulties maintaining an erection or ejaculating.
• Cause a woman to have difficulty being aroused to the point of vaginal lubrication or reaching
an orgasm.