Prohibition America

¶ … Domesticating Drink: Women, Men, and Alcohol in America, 1870-1940

The Volstead Act, enforced on May 19, 1919, contains this brief yet vital pronouncement:

To prohibit intoxicating beverages, and to regulate the manufacture, production, use, and sale of high-proof spirits for other than beverage purposes, and to insure an ample supply of alcohol and promote its use in scientific research and in the development of fuel, dye, and other lawful industries.

This act was popularly known in the early 1900s as the National Prohibition Act or simply the Prohibition, which regulated and aimed to reduce alcohol consumption in the country.

The creation of an act specifically banning the consumption and selling of alcoholic products primarily stemmed from the proliferation of drunkards and saloons that support the Americans' addiction to alcohol. Of special focus in this book, however, are the legal dynamics and power plays that occurred between males and females, who have been directly affected by the Prohibition through different ways.

The book by Catherine Murdock (1998), entitled "Domesticating Drink: Women, Men, and Alcohol in America, 1870-1940" provides a detailed account of the social dynamics that occurred when the Prohibition took effect in the 1920s. The book's main objective was to demonstrate how the Prohibition mirrored social inequalities in American society during the 1920s in terms of gender, socio-economic class, as well as religion.

Prohibition's roots were not only based on social unrest caused by the increasing drunkards and saloons that threaten the safety of American communities. Beneath this social issue lay the 'unrest' emanating between males and females -- specifically, American women who were potential victims of their husbands and/or other drunk men.

Alcoholism during the 1920s was dominated by the males, an activity known only to male workers who often pass by saloons after work. The cheap price of alcohol prior to the Prohibition tolerated this activity, until it reached to the point wherein alcoholism became rampant and had become a 'social disease' in the U.S. Directly affected by the rising number of males addicted to alcohol were the women, who were potential victims of physical abuse and danger.

Murdock cited the detrimental effects that alcoholism brought to women of American society: (1) saloon prostitutes acquiring syphilis and gonorrhea when "lured into disgrace through drink"; (2) marital troubles caused by "[f]ear of abandonment, brutality, destitution, and the failure of the institution of marriage"; and (3) "respectable women traveling blocks out of their way to avoid passing stinking and raucous saloons" (17).

These detrimental effects of rampant alcoholism among American males demonstrated how the Prohibition helped alleviate these social problems while at the same time, empower women by finally giving them control the behavior of their husbands and decrease the chances of their being potential victims of violence and abuse because of alcoholism.

Empowerment increased for women when they joined groups and organizations generally identified as "temperance supporters" or "Drys." These groups and individuals helped enforce the Prohibition, although the Temperance groups themselves were divided between the moderates and radicals. The latter group was known for its strict adherence to the Prohibition, while the former group was known for their adherence to the law, although their protest and opposition was limited only to alcohol consumption in the saloons and public places, and not in the privacy of people's homes (95).

In effect, the Prohibition gave women the "voice" to express their position and opinion about the Prohibition. They were given greater power by the Dry movement and the opportunity to protect themselves openly from oppressive male members of their family and community. However, a corresponding change among women was also the eventual acceptance of drinking women, who have equaled men in terms of alcohol consumption since alcoholism among males drastically decreased during the Prohibition, as alcohol prices went up. Thus, what was once a "man's domain" had been invaded by women, 'reducing' males' dominion over alcohol drinking.

The increase in alcohol prices during the Prohibition had been the catalyst that reflected the significant socio-economic discrepancies among Americans during this period. Prior to the Prohibition, alcohol can be both a form of socialization and also as a vice. The middle class were able to afford the cheap alcohol prices, thus leading to the proliferation of saloons, alcoholism, and social problems resulting from alcoholism (89).

The wealthy class is the only class who was able to afford illegally distributed alcohol, at the risk of paying high prices for a sufficient supply. In addition to expensive alcohol prices, the wealthy were also given privileges to enter and drink alcohol in "small, intimate nightclubs" and cabarets (92). These differences in the lifestyles and coping mechanisms between the high- and middle-class Americans highlights the existence of social inequality in times of socio-economic status in life during the Prohibition.