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| The best times have to do with family and fun not necessarily the beverage you're drinking |
Remember how it was more than forty years ago when it seemed everyone smoked? The tobacco industry was busy trying to convince everyone you couldn't be cool or sexy if you didn't smoke. Remember? Silly me, I forgot most of you who read these posts do not remember because you were either babies or not born yet. The pressure from the industry was relentless: magazines, TV, movies, all touting the wonderfulness of lighting up. The justifications were simple, you had to have a cigarette to relax and in fact, initially nicotine does have that quality to it. Then after awhile the demon grabs those who over indulge and guess what, addiction sets in, choice goes to physical demand and the viciousness is finally revealed. Nasty drug.
Then came all of the shocking statistics that the tobacco industry had been covering up for years. Tobacco actually led to addiction and caused early death and serious bodily harm. No one wanted to believe this, but the conclusions were obvious and right in front of the general public, people were getting sick and dying because of their dependence on tobacco. Oh how the industry fought it, as did any of the people who made the profits from the industry. But ordinary citizens put pressure on the legislature to stop ignoring the health risks so that finally, kicking and screaming, congress imposed rules on the industry. No more slanting their advertising to children, labeling the dangers of second hand smoke, etc. Sadly it took more than three decades before the general public got the sense to stop using as much tobacco as was used forty years ago. This battle is only partially won, the ad men are still out there trying any angle they can use to prop up their industry.
And they've found an angle. In 1969 Phillip Morris purchased Miller Brewing company and started using all of their tactical successes selling the public tobacco to now selling beer. It was a stunning success. Then the ad people and the industry realized that women preferred wine to beer and I'll give you one guess as to what happened next. Yes, ads and the commercials started: the only way to be cool and sexy is to drink. Not satisfied with just the women they started to target the youth market. Coolers, Mike's Hard Lemonade [it has vodka in it], etc. And most repulsively they are attempting to make drunkenness the norm. They need new drinkers and preferably new heavy drinkers or the industry would suffer financial declines. Besides women, our children and teens are vulnerable and their brains haven't developed properly. This heavy drinking can literally damage them. We must not we sit silent while the industry tries to hoodwink our youth and make light about the crazy consumption in high school and colleges.
By the way, I am no angel. I drank a ridiculous amount my freshman and sophomore years in college and then, thank god, I started to not tolerate booze, barfing sick. That was the end to my bingeing. Long ago I was sorry, now I am so grateful that my body doesn't cope well with excessive amounts of alcohol. This has saved me from a world of pain that I've seen others go through, the ones who did not have the "automatic shut-off".
Jungian analyst Jan Bauer says she believes women are looking for "oblivion drinking." Alcohol offers a time out from doing it all. We were all raised on the superwoman goal: to have it all and do it all. No one told us what a price perfectionism would extract---it's heavy. So a neat way out is to get high--- and drugs, including marijuana, alcohol, sleeping pills, and the harder drugs offer a time-out, an oblivion and a small amount of peace. In this post, I'm just focusing on alcohol being the most socially acceptable "mother's little helper." I'm aiming to alert women on the dangers inherent of heavy drinking.
In her excellent book Drink:The Intimate Relationship between Women and Alcohol, Ann Johnston makes a case for women suffering from the myth of perfection. Using herself as an example, She was divorced, working a demanding job and raising her child. At her house she imposed on herself great meals, "homemade Halloween costumes", in short the Martha Stewart myth plus. She said, "my ex by contrast served Kraft dinner or lean cuisine" and her son accepted that. The ex was not a perfectionist. I can relate. When I went to graduate school in the late '80's, I was commuting once a week for two days to Seattle, I also had a demanding job and was raising teen age sons. Happily for me I had Mr. G who, bless his heart fed the boys "nice eggs" or pizza every time I left. See, no perfectionism there either. Me, I wept with the frustration of feeling not worthy and being pulled apart by my chosen life. Makes me shake my head and chuckle at myself now.
And speaking of Martha Stewart, she isn't Martha Stewart either. Do you honestly believe she could do her life without a veritable army of helpers? Rest assured she's not down on her knees scrubbing floors, planting seedlings or cooking any meals. But she does pose for the pictures in her lovely magazine and even that has the army fixing her up.
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| Serenity can come from activities that enhance excitement and calmness |
susansmagicfeather 2013 copyright Susan R. Grout all rights reserved
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