Explaining Dangers Of Binge Drinking Is Not A War On Women

Political Realities ^ | 10/27/13 | LD Jackson

[LD Jackson]

It may seem this post is well off the beaten path of what I usually write, but I hope you will bear with me for the few minutes it will take you to finish reading. I was drawn to this subject by a post from Hot Air about the dangers of young women binge drinking in college. The post was based on an article in Slate about trying to communicate these dangers to the young women in question. The article in question has stirred up a small firestorm. The author has been accused of a lot of things, including waging a war on women. All because she is preaching the virtues of warning young women of the dangers that are inherently associated with drinking so much alcohol, that they are unable to control their behavior. Specifically, Emily Yoffe is pointing out that the majority of rapes on college campuses are the result of binge drinking and that it would behoove us to warn the young women in question of said fact. Here is her opening paragraph.

In one awful high-profile case after another—the U.S. Naval Academy; Steubenville, Ohio; now the allegations in Maryville, Mo.—we read about a young woman, sometimes only a girl, who goes to a party and ends up being raped. As soon as the school year begins, so do reports of female students sexually assaulted by their male classmates. A common denominator in these cases is alcohol, often copious amounts, enough to render the young woman incapacitated. But a misplaced fear of blaming the victim has made it somehow unacceptable to warn inexperienced young women that when they get wasted, they are putting themselves in potential peril.

The “Campus Sexual Assault Study” of 2007, undertaken for the Department of Justice, found that the popular belief that many young rape victims have been slipped “date rape” drugs is false. “Most sexual assaults occur after voluntary consumption of alcohol by the victim and assailant,” the report states. But the researchers noted that this crucial point is not being articulated to young and naïve women: “Despite the link between substance abuse and sexual assault it appears that few sexual assault and/or risk reduction programs address the relationship between substance use and sexual assault.” The report added, somewhat plaintively, “Students may also be unaware of the image of vulnerability projected by a visibly intoxicated individual.”

I'm not much of a believer in coincidences, but here's one for you. I was speaking to our oldest daughter about this very issue Friday night, well before I read the post on Hot Air. For the record, I have never tasted alcohol. Our parents and our church taught us against it and I happened to witness enough of the dangers of alcohol growing up to know I wanted no part of it. I have had chances, both before and after I was on my own, to go against my raising, but I chose not to do so, for a variety of reasons.

First of all, I have picked up a can of beer before and it smelled like something I will not type on this blog. I wasn't about to taste it, much less swallow. Second, I have been around some people who were full-blown alcoholics. It didn't take me long to figure out I wanted no part of that kind of behavior.

Don't misunderstand, I did plenty of things that I shouldn't have done when I went to college, things I wished I had never done, but drinking alcohol was not one of them. There were times when I drove some of my classmates around town when they were drinking. Mainly, I did this because I wanted to be friends with them, not realizing until later how dangerous it would have been for them to be driving. Some of the behaviors I witnessed then still astonish me, some 30 years later.

I remember once when we were out and about, a young woman being with us. The friends I was with were playing a game with quarters and a glass of alcohol. They were clearly trying to get the young woman drunk, so she would lose some of her inhibitions. I suspect she was trying to fit into the crowd, but I wanted to take her aside and ask her if she could not see what the rest of them were trying to do. Maybe it was because I was the only sober person in the group, but it didn't take a brainiac to see what they were trying to do.

I have been told before that drinking alcohol is okay, as long as it is done with moderation. The problem is, I have seen very few people who could really moderate their consumption of alcohol, once they started drinking. One of the favorite things for some of my college classmates to do was called a beer bash. Someone would supply kegs full of beer and they would drink until they didn't know any better and then drink some more.

I watched these classmates as they came back into the dorms. Many of them could hardly make it back to their rooms before they were vomiting all over themselves. They would wake up the next morning, knowing what they did, but unable to remember much of what had taken place. They had major headaches and were still stick. Many times, they were unable to go to class the next day. Yet, they were ready to do the same thing all over again, with little or not thought to the repercussions their actions were having on their bodies, or their educations.

The funniest thing about all of this is how they used to ask me to go with them to these beer bashes. They would explain to me how great a time they were having and how I should join in the fun. My response was simple. They were telling me about the good times they were having, but they could barely remember what they had done. I told them they had to be lying to me about the good times, as I didn't consider laying in one's own vomit as having a good time. They finally figured out I was having no part of that and stopped asking me to go. Looking back on those days, it sounds almost humorous. In reality, it is deadly serious. I wonder what kind of lasting damage these young people did to their bodies, just because they wanted to fit into the crowd.

There is a real and present danger that is inherent anytime someone drinks alcohol, especially when it is done to such excess, as we see when binge drinking is involved. Emily Yoffe has been severely criticized as someone who is waging a war on women, all because she is trying to point out how many sexual assaults could be prevented. She isn't saying the victims of sexual assault are to blame for their plight, but does try to explain how they can stop some of these sexual assaults from taking place.

Doesn't it make more sense to be able to prevent rape and sexual assault, rather than have to catch the perpetrators after the fact? Telling them the facts and warning them of the danger does not constitute a war on women.All it will take is for the young women to realize the danger they are placing themselves in, when they fall into the crowd and start drinking themselves into oblivion.

[humblegunner]

The friends I was with were playing a game with quarters and a glass of alcohol.

That'll kill you.

They should use beer instead.

[Telepathic Intruder]

It is possible to moderate your drinking, but not if your motivation is to “have a good time”. The good time, in this case, is always the next shot or beer away, and the more you drink the more judgement impaired you become. Strange that the left is calling it a “war on women” to warn them about alcohol abuse. I mean, I could understand it if it was a warning against marijuana or abortion.

[Cletus.D.Yokel]

I gave up binge drinking after college. Now, I just drink throughout the day until the bottle is empty.

:-)

[gspurlock]

Excellent points all. But a question needs to be asked. Why would anyone consider cautioning young women about behaviors which endanger their health to be a war on women? Why would someone consider taking actions to prevent rape to be anti-woman?

I submit that the primary driver behind this mentality is the abortion lobby. If women stop engaging in the behavior that fosters promiscuity and rape, they are much less likely to have an unwanted or inconvenient pregnancy.

I don’t know why murdering your own unborn child is considered a desirable liberty. But it seems to me that abortion is the ultimate war on women. The ability to conceive and bear a child is the defining quality of womanhood. Convincing our daughters that is an undesirable characteristic is the war on women. The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world. Think about it.

You always know what liberals are doing because it is what they accuse their opponents of doing. When are conservatives going to figure this out and take corrective action?

[arthurus]

Anything that recognizes that women are different from men men in any particular constitutes “war on women,” except when uttered by a certified Feminist Socialist.

[LD Jackson]

From reading the article on Slate, as well as the accusations made towards Emily Yoffe, it appears she was accused of blaming the victims, rather than the perpetrators. That doesn’t seem like an accurate description of her article, but that’s where the liberals were going with their tone. They made the claim more could be done to “prevent” rapes and sexual assault by catching the perpetrators, rather than telling their victims to “skip out on parties”.

I believe it circles back to the unwillingness of liberals to let anyone take personal responsibility for the actions or their own safety.

[Yo-Yo]

I gave up binge drinking after college. Now, I just drink throughout the day until the bottle is empty.

A wise man learns how to pace himself. Never run out of day before you run out of bottle.

[Vendome]

A real man ought to be able to determine that a woman has had too much to drink and allow her blow her cookies on your couch.

[Cletus.D.Yokel]

All things are salutary in moderation...

Even hemlock.

[HotHunt]

I am not a college student or a women but I will relate my story that is very relevant to this posting.

Since I turned 60, I have been hit with two cases of acute pancreatitis and was hospitalized for a week in both cases to clear up the inflammation in my gut. I can assure you that acute pancreatitis is extremely painful and prolonged. The treatment is to not feed you any food or water for 5 days until the inflammation has passed.

The first thing my hospital doctors asked me in each case was how much alcohol I drank every day. I had not had a drop of alcohol for three decades and told them I didn’t drink. Of course, the doctors initially believed I was in denial and persisted in trying to get me to admit I was a heavy alcohol drinker. Why? Because over 95% of all cases of acute pancreatitis are due to binge drinking. Most patients with this problem are young college-age binge drinkers or adult alcoholics who go on binges. It wasn’t until my wife backed up my story that I was not a drinker, that they believed me. It turns out that a very small percentage of cases of acute pancreatitis are caused from passing gall stones and certain blood pressure medications. After ruling out the gallstones, it was decided that my blood pressure meds were the culprit.

So the reason for my story is that binge drinking is not just a social issue or some faux war on women. It can cause serious medical problems, as well.

Young people many times don’t consider the consequences of their actions and binge drinking is not good for anyone on many levels but the medical consequences can be severe.

[Gandalf_The_Gray]

A wise man learns how to pace himself. Never run out of day before you run out of bottle.

A wise man once told me "They can make it faster than you can drink it, don't try to drink it all." I didn't heed the advice, until I rolled a new car.

Regards,
GtG