Not without my mobile phone: alcohol binge drinking, gender violence and technology in the Spanish culture of intoxication

Abstract

The practice of binge drinking has in recent decades consolidated what is known as the 'culture of intoxication' among the young people of Spain. This has coincided with the increase in the use of mobile-phone technology and of social networks within the night-time economy. Our main aim is to explore these new, potentially risky uses and violent behaviours, through an analysis of the discourses of the young people involved. This is a qualitative study with in-depth interviews (n ¼ 24) of young people between the ages of sixteen and twenty-two, resident in two cities in the south of Spain: Granada and Seville. Findings: our results show that gender violence is present in the contexts where alcohol is consumed intensively and is related to the use of the mobile phone in interpersonal or couple relationships. This violence is practiced mainly against the women, who suffer sexual harassment and violation of their public image through information and communication technologies. Our data show that prevention should consider the new vulnerabilities that are generated out of the problematic association between technology and alcohol, using innovative strategies that are adapted to the new patterns of youth behaviour.

Consumption of Substances in Nightlife Settings: A Qualitative Approach in Young Andalusians (Spain)

“…Previous research linked changes in gender roles and the consumption of certain substances; in the case of alcohol, there may be a direct relationship between these social changes in young people and alcohol consumption [21,[53][54][55]. Nevertheless, evidence from previous research reported greater polyconsumption in young men than in women [56].…”

“…Males are more explicit in their responses because they understand that they can freely exercise activities related to nightlife, such as enjoying going out, partying, and alcohol and drug use, without these activities damaging their reputation or undermining their masculinity. The opposite happens with girls, who tend to take the stance and declare in their statements that "they are good girls", who repress their desire to drink alcohol and get drunk at parties, so as not to damage their "feminine" image, which is why they also follow rules of legal consumption [21].…”

“…Drinking is used to mark social rites of passage of all kinds, including access to adult life, but it is also traditionally associated with learning self-control. However, in Western European countries, the mode of consumption is changing, with the globalization of products and patterns: young people from Anglo-Saxon countries have taken on the daily consumption of wine, so typical of Mediterranean countries, while young people from Southern Europe have started to consume more drinks with a high alcohol content and to binge drink [21,22]. Alcohol has become the universal fuel of the nightlife economy and its consumption is considered pleasant, fun and sociable [21,[23][24][25].…”

Acoso sexual juvenil en los espacios de ocio nocturno: Doble vulnerabilidad femenina.

“…Este uso de las TIC, que tiene también un sesgo de género, afecta de distinta forma a chicos que a chicas. Para ellos ser grabados en estado ebrio o poses promiscuas no afecta a su reputación, en todo caso, suelen considerarlo divertido y un indicador de su papel protagonista en la fiesta; para las chicas, si esto ocurre, la imagen que proyectarían dentro del grupo en las mismas circunstancias sería negativa y peyorativa (Megías Quirós et al, 2005;Rodríguez Santero et al, 2017;Romo Avilés et al, 2019).…”

“…Estas imágenes sitúan a las chicas fuera del modelo normativo tradicional sobre la feminidad, que sigue exigiéndoles ser buenas, recatadas, decentes, pasivas. Actuar fuera de dicho modelo puede acarrear consecuencias como que sean objeto de insultos, vejaciones y hasta acoso sexual de diversos tipos (Romo Avilés et al, 2019). Esta constatación de las diferencias entre chicos y chicas viene a reafirmar la construcción cultural de la desigualdad en un marco sesgado por las relaciones normativas patriarcales de género en las que la igualdad no es más que un espejismo (Valcárcel, 2008;García-Carpintero, 2018).…”