A Brief History Of Gin, Feminism and Despair
The London Gin Craze of the early 1700s and why ‘Mother’s Ruin’ nearly became a proto-feminist position
Two of the greatest side effects of human patience were cheese and wine. A few hundred thousand years ago early hominids were disgusted to find the mammoth harvest had gone off. The milk turned into cheddar and all the grains they’d stored produced a liquid which gave their little monkey brains the giddy feels after it was consumed.
Alcohol has had a profound effect on our species, on our relationship with ourselves and is a societal innovation that cannot be put back in the box. It is here to stay and an integral part of socialisation and modern Western culture.
In many ways, alcohol has been very successful on a conceptual level; It’s moved from the religious sphere into the medicinal sphere and finally become a recreational drug of choice. Although the main social and political problems that stem from its overconsumption are well known, we’ve taken very few steps to limit availability.
Apart from that one time in America and we ended up with the musical Bugsy Malone… I think we can all agree never to try that again.
If you’re looking to see how much damage alcohol can do on a societal level…
