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Reviews tagging 'Colonisation'
Girly Drinks: A World History of Women and Alcohol by Mallory O'Meara
3 reviews
funny
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
“Skinny margaritas. Appletinis. Cosmos. Drinks flavored like cake or whipped cream. Drinks featuring cake or whipped cream. Bright red maraschino cherries and pastel umbrellas. You know, girly drinks. Drinks for girls.”
What a fun and informative read! I don’t read a lot of non-fiction, because it has the potential to be more dry and boring but this captured my attention right away. The author’s voice is incredible; it feels like a good friend telling you a story about something they’re passionate about. The information is presented casually, so it’s very easy to comprehend. I laughed out loud more than once! In a time where alcohol is often vilified, I found this take super empowering and refreshing. It’s very diverse and brings in women from all over the world, during different time periods. Despite still fighting to be a part of the alcohol space, women have been brewing alcohol from the very beginning. It helped women have a source of income and independence. I learned so much while reading this and it will definitely stick with me. I highly recommend.
“It was believed that drinking weakened a woman's ability to resist the devil, when really, it was that drinking strengthened a woman's desire to resist the patriarchy.”
What a fun and informative read! I don’t read a lot of non-fiction, because it has the potential to be more dry and boring but this captured my attention right away. The author’s voice is incredible; it feels like a good friend telling you a story about something they’re passionate about. The information is presented casually, so it’s very easy to comprehend. I laughed out loud more than once! In a time where alcohol is often vilified, I found this take super empowering and refreshing. It’s very diverse and brings in women from all over the world, during different time periods. Despite still fighting to be a part of the alcohol space, women have been brewing alcohol from the very beginning. It helped women have a source of income and independence. I learned so much while reading this and it will definitely stick with me. I highly recommend.
“It was believed that drinking weakened a woman's ability to resist the devil, when really, it was that drinking strengthened a woman's desire to resist the patriarchy.”
Content Warnings
Moderate: Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Alcohol, Colonisation, Classism
Minor: Sexual harassment
informative
lighthearted
fast-paced
I thought this was an interesting concept, but it wound up being way too pop-history for me. Each chapter features a story about a specific woman (with varying levels of connection to alcohol culture, there were a couple extremely tenuous links that felt like "diversity hires" unfortunately) interspersed with buzzfeed listicle style writing about other things happening globally during that time period. The footnotes are not citations (there's a bibliography at the back, but specific facts aren't cited directly) they're just more unfunny "snark" and some of the chapters (especially the more modern years) feel uncomfortably preachy. Also acting like Hammurabi invented misogyny whole cloth is extremely silly.
The different types of alcohol and how they're made were interesting though.
The different types of alcohol and how they're made were interesting though.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol
Moderate: Alcoholism, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Colonisation
Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic
adventurous
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol
Moderate: Alcoholism, Sexism, Cultural appropriation, Colonisation