Girly Drinks: A World History of Women and Alcohol QUOTES

1 " It's hilarious that having a cushion on a barstool to make it more comfortable is considered a feminine touch, but there you go. Maybe it's a mark of masculine virility to have a sore butt. "

― Mallory O'Meara , Girly Drinks: A World History of Women and Alcohol

2 " . . . wine was described in extremely vague and misleading terms. Some wines were feminine and some were masculine. What does masculine wine taste like? Sweaty tube socks? Old Spice? Talking about wine like this unhelpful at best and confusing at worst. "

― Mallory O'Meara , Girly Drinks: A World History of Women and Alcohol

3 " The power that the brewsters possessed made local authorities anxious, even hostile. Women who refused to submit to male control over their beer were marked as disobedient, noncompliant troublemakers.

Noncompliant women armed with knowledge and bargaining power who challenged the economic dominance of men? A recipe for trouble. "

― Mallory O'Meara , Girly Drinks: A World History of Women and Alcohol

4 " In recent years, an interesting ideal has developed, probably in response to centuries of straight whiskey being considered a man's drink: the whiskey-drinking woman. . . . many women bought into this idea, that cool drinks and girly drinks were mutually exclusive categories of beverages. She's not like other girls because she drinks whiskey. And yes, whiskey is cool. Whiskey is awesome. But drinking it doesn't make you cooler or more awesome than someone who drinks wine or beer or, yes, even vodka. Don't let the patriarchy influence you drink choices. Drink what you want! "

― Mallory O'Meara , Girly Drinks: A World History of Women and Alcohol

5 " Well into the 1960s, the supposed threat of B-girls was used to justify excluding women from bars. Better ban an entire gender to protect those fragile male egos! Better to deny women access to a public space than have a man realize that the only way a woman would listen to his stupid work stories is if she's being paid! "

― Mallory O'Meara , Girly Drinks: A World History of Women and Alcohol

6 " . . . ladies' night was not designed as a perk for women. It was designed as an attraction for men. Women were commodified at ladies' nights. They were the bar's loss leaders, not the customers that the bar ultimately cared about. "

― Mallory O'Meara , Girly Drinks: A World History of Women and Alcohol

7 " No matter what you're having, you can toast knowing that women had a part in its it's history. Saying that some types of alcohol are better, more noble, more masculine to drink than others is just outright silly. . . . All drinks are girly drinks. "

― Mallory O'Meara , Girly Drinks: A World History of Women and Alcohol

8 " . . . Hoffman-La Roche [the manufacturer of Rohypnol] declared that alcohol was the number one date-rape drug. . . . they put the onus on women to protect their own drinks and avoid assault. There was an air of 'Well, if you left your drink unattended. . .' or 'Well, if you didn't go out drinking. . .' as if sexual assault was not an intentional crime but rather some kind of arbitrary force of nature, like a heavy rain, that could be avoided with good planning. Spiking someone's drink sounds innocuous, but it is nothing short of evil. "

― Mallory O'Meara , Girly Drinks: A World History of Women and Alcohol

9 " No matter what you're having, you can toast knowing that women had a part in its history. Saying that some types of alcohol are better, more noble, more masculine to drink than others is just outright silly. . . . All drinks are girly drinks. "

― Mallory O'Meara , Girly Drinks: A World History of Women and Alcohol

10 " Cleopatra occupied a dangerous position in the ancient world, a position that is still dangerous in modern society: a powerful woman. Roman leaders launched a smear campaign against her, and its enduring success stained the image the world had of Cleopatra. Instead of brilliant and powerful, she was cast as evil, lustful and wild. "

― Mallory O'Meara , Girly Drinks: A World History of Women and Alcohol

11 " So many names and stories have been lost to time. Having a legacy is a privilege afforded only to a few. Often, it's about class. . . . sometimes it's just about when and were you were born. "

― Mallory O'Meara , Girly Drinks: A World History of Women and Alcohol

12 " Alcohol has always been a class divider. These new social pressures certainly tamped down on women's drinking culture, but mostly for poor women. The biggest thing that prevented women from drinking was poverty. . . . although poor women could afford to drink less often, they were more likely to be arrested when they did and overindulged. Poor women paid a far greater price for both drinking and making alcohol. "

― Mallory O'Meara , Girly Drinks: A World History of Women and Alcohol

13 " It wasn't a group of hard drinkers, bootleggers, smugglers or cocktail enthusiasts that had suddenly become Prohibition's most powerful opponents, it was a legion of mothers. Alcohol's greatest ally was a now formidable and elegantly coiffed host of mostly middle- and upper-class housewives. "

― Mallory O'Meara , Girly Drinks: A World History of Women and Alcohol

14 " It's commonplace today to make fun of women-centric book clubs, where there's more wine drinking than book discussion, but for hundreds of years, the only place women could gather, drink, relax and socialize was in a neighbor's kitchen, surrounded by other wives and mothers. There is a long-standing tradition of driving women to some sort of behavior, then mocking them for it. (Sort of like making beauty a women's most powerful and important currency, then laughing about how long it takes her to get ready.) "

― Mallory O'Meara , Girly Drinks: A World History of Women and Alcohol

15 " If a woman drank too much, it was probably because she wasn't fulfilling all her domestic duties. If a man drank too much, it was probably his wife's fault for not fulfilling all her domestic duties. . . . Many so-called experts of the 1950s believed that alcohol abuse was a manifestation of failed gender performance. Which almost shakes out, considering that trying to conform to the role of a perfect 1950s housewife would make any woman want to have a drink. "

― Mallory O'Meara , Girly Drinks: A World History of Women and Alcohol

16 " By the time the Victorian era began in 1837, women enjoying almost anything at all was associated with sinfulness. They were seen as the weaker sex who were more prey to temptation, so it was better for everyone involved if they just stayed at home. Maybe even closed inside a stockings drawer or hatbox. Just in case. "

― Mallory O'Meara , Girly Drinks: A World History of Women and Alcohol

17 " In both England and America, women were expected to be the angels of the home. Not only were they to practice strict moderation for themselves but they were also responsible for the moderation of everyone in the house. Victorian ideals created an impossible situation for women: have none of the power, yet all of the responsibility. "

― Mallory O'Meara , Girly Drinks: A World History of Women and Alcohol

18 " Maybe someday, companies shilling skinny drinks will realize that the last thing a woman needs after a long day is to pick up a bottle that is going to body-shame her. Instead they might start using their enormous marking and manufacturing power to sell women a drink that isn't infused with self-hatred. "

― Mallory O'Meara , Girly Drinks: A World History of Women and Alcohol

19 " Work in the kitchen and in the home has been systemically devalued and outright dismissed for thousands of years. It's impossible to confine alcohol or cocktail history to the bar because so many types of people were not allowed to work or drink there until very recently in modern history. Alcohol was a deeply important part of the private home lives of people all over the world in the nineteenth century, not just the goings-on in the public taverns, hotels, saloons or pubs. Many of women's recipes and innovations are what various alcohol industries and companies are built on. "

― Mallory O'Meara , Girly Drinks: A World History of Women and Alcohol

20 " . . . just as alcohol is not the cause of capitalism's problems, it is also not the cure. Wine does not alleviate wage inequality or the lack of affordable childcare. If people mocking wine moms on Instagram were truly concerned about their health and welfare, they might instead try working toward getting women the support they desperately need. "

― Mallory O'Meara , Girly Drinks: A World History of Women and Alcohol