In Drink: The Intimate Relationship Between Women and Alcohol, award-winning journalist Anne Dowsett Johnston combines in-depth research with her own personal story of recovery, and delivers a groundbreaking examination of a shocking yet little recognized epidemic threatening society today: the precipitous rise in risky drinking among women and girls.
With the feminist revolution, women have closed the gender gap in their professional and educational lives. They have also achieved equality with men in more troubling areas as well. In the U.S. alone, the rates of alcohol abuse among women have skyrocketed in the past decade. DUIs, “drunkorexia” (choosing to limit eating to consume greater quantities of alcohol), and health problems connected to drinking are all rising—a problem exacerbated by the alcohol industry itself.
Battling for women’s dollars and leisure time, corporations have developed marketing strategies and products targeted exclusively to women. Equally alarming is a recent CDC report showing a sharp rise in binge drinking, putting women and girls at further risk.
As she brilliantly weaves in-depth research, interviews with leading researchers, and the moving story of her own struggle with alcohol abuse, Johnston illuminates this startling epidemic, dissecting the psychological, social, and industry factors that have contributed to its rise, and exploring its long-lasting impact on our society and individual lives.
Winner of five National Magazine Awards, Ann Dowsett Johnston is a seasoned journalist, recognized for her expertise in mental health, education and alcohol policy. A recipient of the Atkinson Fellowship in Public Policy and a Southam Fellowship in Journalism, she spent most of her professional career at
Maclean's magazine. A former vice-principal of McGill University, she has been granted an honorary Doctorate of Laws from Queen’s University and the American Research Society on Addiction’s Media Award for her groundbreaking advocacy. A graduate of Smith College, she is now a trauma therapist living in Toronto.