When producer Tarana Samadova's car was stopped by the police, the footages showing her driving while intoxicated, plus not being able to control herself and being rude to police was heavily criticized by public. Along with those who asked "What was the point of showing this footage on TV?", there were those who asked the questions such as "Should women drink?", "They cannot act like lady when they drink". The footage of drunk producer sparked a conversation about the consumption of alcohol among women. It turns out it is a polarizing issue. The comments such as "There's nothing wrong with women drinking" was met with the protests that "Women and drinking don't mix"
The fact is, nowadays the number of women who drink is equal to that of men. And this has become a problem in our society too. For example, a study done in the USA has revealed that women drink as much as men. The article which was published in the journal of "Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research" of the Institute of Alcoholism and Alcohol National Institute states that the difference in consumption of alcohol by women and men are dwindling.
"During our study, we determined that, there is a small difference in the daily and monthly consumption of alcohol. This also hold true for the problems stemming from alcohol use, including driving under the influence of alcohol." - says Aaron Wight, the chief consultant at the institute. While researching, Aaron Wight has looked at the data from 2002 to 2012. He has discovered that the number of women who have consumed alcohol in the last 30 days has gone up from 44.9% to 48.3%. During this time, the number of men who consumed alcohol in the last 30 days has fallen to 56.1 % from 57.4% previously. According to the study, the number of days where women consumed alcohol has risen to 7.3 from 6.8 while the number for men has fallen from 9.9 to 9.5. The Director of Research Institute George Koob has called the results "concerning" and claimed that the women who drink are more dangerous than their male counterparts. He says that the alcohol increases the risk of inflammation of the liver, cardiovascular diseases, cancer and neurotoxic in women. The study revealed that, women aged 18-25 consume more alcohol. But they are not university educated. In comparison, college educated women and men consume less alcohol. Scientists note that they have yet to discoverer the reason as to why women are not able to give up drinking. But it is clear that being unemployed, pregnancy and motherhood does not stop women from drinking alcohol.
The doctors and psychologists we interviewed on the subject are concerned about the increase of alcohol consumption among women.
According to professor Adil Geybulla, it makes no difference whether alcohol is consumed by a woman or a man. That is, both are human organism and everyone should regulate it themselves: " Propensity to drink is a lifestyle choice. If I person does not control it, after a while, they become addicted to it. At various times, people who consume vast amounts of alcohol may suffer from alcohol poisoning. If this happens repeatedly, the body gets used to it and it turns into alcohol addiction". Professors says it is very hard to treat chronic alcoholism. That is to say, the chemical compounds formed in the body requires alcohol: "There are places where women drink as much as men. The earlier the alcohol consumption begins, the more problems it creates". While he admits that alcohol is harmful to men too, he claims that it is even more dangerous for women. When women are pregnant, they are carrying another human being in their womb. If the alcohol is transferred from mother to the blood of the child, it may harm their nervous system and it may lead to the child being addicted to alcohol. It also increases the risk of breast, cervical and gastric cancer in women: "This is a very important global problem. Attention has to be paid to the sale of alcohol. In some countries, there is a legal drinking age." According to A. Geybulla, this problem can only be solved as a result of a mass campaign: " Experiments show that, the project created by the civil society regarding the issue are of utmost importance. If such campaigns were carried out in mass and online media, it would be great. People watch TV. If the negative effects of the alcohol were talked about constantly on the media, people would abstain from it. The harmful effects of the alcohol should constantly be repeated so that people would understand just how important the problem is.
The head of Psychology and Consultation Center, Elnur Rustamov, said the problem started with women's smoking addiction. In the movement that started in last century in the USA, women were very active: " After women began to actively participate in life, they adopting smoking as a way of protesting. It should also be noted that, the psychoanalysis of smoking shows that it is perceived as male charisma. So the women smoking was viewed as them being equals to men. The media publicized the movement at the time, thus promoting such practices. And the process never stopped. The people who were smoking today began drinking tomorrow. They used to consume lighter forms of alcohol. Because alcohol is a lot more harmful to women than it is to men. Alcohol doesn't affect male body much. For example, cirrhosis is more common among women than men who consume the equal amounts of alcohol ". Psychologists think that when women want to live an independent life, they want to try the "pleasures" that are traditionally perceived as masculine: "This psychological problem is observed both in Europe, the USA , as well as our country. This definitely affects their psychology too". According to him, when the alcohol is consumed in large amounts, this has an impact in the inter-family and social lives of the individuals: " The arrest of women for driving under the influence is regarded as concerning by many. It means that they can have an accident that may result in casualties. American society is going back today. The American women nowadays say "I'm sick of my career, I want to start a family". They are becoming conservative in this regard. The opposite of this is happening in our society. The same thing will probably take place in our country too.. The propensity to drink and smoke is more common among single women: "Divorced women who do not get remarried belong to the risk group. But this doesn't mean that married women don't drink. It simply means, they do not engage in it regularly and they are not addicted to it. Because they have someone that regulates it."
Psychologist thinks that in order to prevent such things, awareness raising campaign are important. These are particularly important to preserve family values.
Tarana
