Stop Guilting Moms Over Their Cocktails When Dads Are The Drunk Ones

Today.com is rehashing the whole experts warn of alcohol abuse by moms click bait today, by once again stating that more and more moms are filling their kid’s sippy cups full of Night Train and reenacting the movie When A Man Loves A Woman from 1994, which features the plucky yet totally shitfaced Meg Ryan with two young daughters. You bad bad moms enjoying a glass or two of MOMMY JUICE a night, why won’t you think of the children?! Don’t you know this little habit of yours could quickly spiral out of control and :

experts worry that more women are drinking to excess and putting themselves and their kids at risk.

I’m not an expert at alcoholism, but I can mix you up some super delicious cocktails. And even though I’m not an expert, I can use the damn google which leads me to the CDC website that tells me that:

It is estimated that about 17% of men and about 8% of women will meet criteria for alcohol dependence at some point in their lives

Here’s the issue I have with the Today article, it warns about alcohol abuse and women, specifically moms. If we are going to believe the CDC, and I can’t find any reason why we shouldn’t, than alcohol abuse if a far bigger issue affecting DADDIES than MOMMIES, but you don’t see Today writing about the men who stop off at the local bar after work to have a cocktail or two on their way home. I think raising alcohol abuse awareness and offering resources for women to get help if they need it is all fine and dandy, but yet you never see these articles addressing the fact that approximately 63% of adult men reported drinking alcohol in the last 30 days and that they are two times more likely to binge drink than women. 

I can’t even imagine how absurd this headline would be:

Hitting the daddy juice too hard? Experts warn of alcohol abuse by dads

And then the article would wag a finger at daddies who enjoy a glass or two of wine a night or the same number of cocktails. Which, you know, is NORMAL, regardless of gender. But when men do this it isn’t seen as scandalous or headline worthy at all. But because moms are still seen as the primary caregivers of children (which is so outdated and absurd) and because moms should never partake in this totally normal habit of having a drink or two after a long day a few times a week, you know, like dads do with their beer or glasses of bourbon, these experts poke fingers at mom because you know, women shouldn’t behave this way. And it’s not just the Today article, and if you don’t believe me, the next time you see a man reaching for a second beer or talking about consuming alcohol, put on your best santimommy voice and say:

Should you really be drinking? Don’t you have kids? 

If you think you have an alcohol problem, seek help. If you have consumed alcohol, never drive a car.

If you are sick of the media targeting MOMS over an issue that affects both moms and dads, then sit down next to me and I’ll pour you a drink and we can talk about it.

(Image: Rob Byron/shutterstock)