Alcohol and Women: Critical Information
Differences Between Men and Women
Other Factors to Consider
Dangers of Binge Drinking
Suggestions to Reduce Harm
Balancing Freedom and Responsibility Decisions on Drinking for College Women
I have both the freedom and the responsibility to care about myself. I have the right to think and feel and make choices and changes.
I can consider thinking about myself in new ways:
I am an important human being.
I am a worthwhile woman.
I deserve to be treated with respect.
I do have power over my own life.
I can use my power over my own life.
I can use my power to take good care of myself. I can decide what is best for me.
I can make changes in my life if I want to. I am not alone. I can ask others to help me.
I am worth working for and changing for. I deserve to make my own life safe and happy.
(Women at the Well, by Kathleen Fischer, p.171)
As a female, college is among the most crucial of your life stages. College involves the first real separation from the interdependence with family, past friends, and relationships; and invites the development of greater independence of who-and-what you wish to become.
Most women who choose to drink in college begin as a means to fit in socially, find their peer group, as a social lubricant, to relieve stress, or are just curious. It is important that if you are considering drinking, that decisions are made safely. Sometimes when college students go out to drink, they often disconnect from the student life in order to let loose, relax, and socialize, leaving the important aspects of their physical, emotional, sexual, academic, and spiritual self in the dorm room and sometimes end up compromising values or having feelings of regret.
In order for women to avoid the disconnect from self in making decisions in regard to drinking, it is important to know ones limits and understand how different one is from male classmates. Know that although the equality battles have gone on for centuries between men and women, there is one area where men and women will never be equal – Alcohol Use.