anna_wing

Among the things that COVID-19 has revealed is the HUGE socio-economic importance of alcohol in societies all round the world. Or to put it another way, the huge degree of both alcohol dependence and alcohol-mediated public sociability in societies round the world. Not to mention the obvious negative effects of alcohol on people's ability and willingness to abide by COVID-19 related public behavioural changes like masks, social distancing and basic hygiene practices.

And incidentally, that the degree of freedom that women have in any particular society can be measured by the degree to which they can participate equally, safely and as a matter of course, in alcohol-mediated public sociability with or in the same place as men to whom they are not related.

I drink very little, and almost never in public except in a restaurant, so I hadn't really noticed this before.