Femininities and intoxication

Abstract

The focus of this chapter is on how women negotiate the tensions and inconsistencies in enactments of intoxication. It is acknowledged that much of the literature refers to westernised nations and thus is concentrated on particular groups of intoxicated women within developed neo-liberal, night-time economies (NTE). The discussion explores how women engage with the NTE, the arguments surrounding hypersexual femininities, post-feminism, intersectionality and the narrow categories that women’s intoxications are placed within. Some of the ways that women negotiate the risks and pleasures of intoxication are noted, and in order to broaden out the debate, intoxication through alcohol and illicit drugs is considered, emphasising the diversity of both femininity and intoxication. The idea that some women are viewed as symbolically and dangerously intoxicated is also considered alongside the stigma that affects, in particular, women who inject drugs.