If You Think Alcohol Consumption is Not Harmful, Think Again! (Part 2)

Abstract

 Ironically, when family and friends announce that one of their female members or a partnered 
couple is pregnant, the first thing that happens is that someone in a privileged position proposes 
that each member of the group fills a glass with champagne, or some fine wine that has been 
tabled, and lifts the glass high, with well-intentioned joyous praise for the happy couple. This 
scenario is in essence a commentary on a deeply embedded sociocultural tradition that is dif
f
 icult to extirpate, as we shall see, even in the name of good health. Indeed, it is paradoxical that 
we toast the happy couple and their future offspring to good health, when what we nonchalantly 
pour into our glasses are the very alcoholic beverages which are among the most deleterious 
threats to a women’s health. Another problem is that such toasting-rituals extend far beyond 
the confines of wedding celebrations to a whole host of social events that have traditionally 
served to provide excuses for ‘ritualistic drinking’. For example, consider the fact that sporting 
competitions of many kinds, especially Elite Motorsport Car Competitions, end up with the 
successful drivers on the winners’ platform spraying and drenching each other with expensive 
Champagne. By reiterating these celebratory rituals, Motorsport Heroes in competitions across 
the globe implicitly legitimate such drinking behaviour, thereby encouraging their spectators 
to swallow as much liquor as they can as a vicarious way of celebrating these events. It is clear 
that we live in a society which laughs off educational advice about the problems alcohol causes 
not only to the drinkers themselves, but also to innocent adults and children who are infelici
tously and all too often fatally impacted by someone else’s drunk driving.