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Self-Improvement. Sociology. Women's Studies. Nonfiction. HTML:NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER �?� �??An unflinching examination of how our drinking culture hurts women and a gorgeous memoir of how one woman healed herself.�?��??Glennon Doyle, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Untamed �??You don�??t know how much you need this book, or maybe you do. Either way, it will save your life.�?��??Melissa Hartwig Urban, Whole30 co-founder and CEO The founder of the first female-focused recovery program offers a groundbreaking look at alcohol and a radical new path to sobriety. We live in a world obsessed with drinking. We drink at baby showers and work events, brunch and book club, graduations and funerals. Yet no one ever questions alcohol�??s ubiquity�??in fact, the only thing ever questioned is why someone doesn�??t drink. It is a qualifier for belonging and if you don�??t imbibe, you are considered an anomaly. As a society, we are obsessed with health and wellness, yet we uphold alcohol as some kind of magic elixir, though it is anything but. When Holly Whitaker decided to seek help after one too many benders, she embarked on a journey that led not only to her own sobriety, but revealed the insidious role alcohol plays in our society and in the lives of women in particular. What�??s more, she could not ignore the ways that alcohol companies were targeting women, just as the tobacco industry had successfully done generations before. Fueled by her own emerging feminism, she also realized that the predominant systems of recovery are archaic, patriarchal, and ineffective for the unique needs of women and other historically oppressed people�??who don�??t need to lose their egos and surrender to a male concept of God, as the tenets of Alcoholics Anonymous state, but who need to cultivate a deeper understanding of their own identities and take control of their lives. When Holly found an alternate way out of her own addiction, she felt a calling to create a sober community with resources for anyone questioning their relationship with drinking, so that they might find their way as well. Her resultant feminine-centric recovery program focuses on getting at the root causes that lead people to overindulge and provides the tools necessary to break the cycle of addiction, showing us what is possible when we remove alcohol and destroy our belief system around it. Written in a relatable voice that is honest and witty, Quit Like a Woman is at once a groundbreaking look at drinking culture and a road map to cutting out alcohol in order to live our best lives without the crutch of intoxication. You wi… (more)
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The author does an excellent job weaving her story among statistics of alcohol use, abuse, and recovery methods. I’ve really seen an increase in drinking in women I know in the last fifteen plus years, and this book helped me to see how addiction shows itself in women (as well as the stigma surrounding “alcoholic”).
Whitaker created her own journey to sobriety, and I enjoyed hearing about what worked for her and how (she now runs her own company for getting women sober). The chapter on AA alone (and how it’s not for women) was so enlightening (my grandfather is 91 and has been sober for over 50 years and still sometimes goes to AA meetings—I want to send this book to him), and I believe this book is worth reading just for it.
But really, this needs to be read by all women. It’s unfortunate that most are going to be scared away from reading it because of the fear of quitting or admitting there’s even a problem. Also, I’d love people to read it as a way to explain that I’m not a weirdo because I don’t drink (there are enough other reasons I’m a weirdo). This is an important and timely read for all women, and I hope that they’ll get over their fear of what could be and dive in.
While I thought Holly really makes great points about the culture of alcohol, our dysfunctional relationship with it, the questionable label of alcoholic, and her way of getting through it, I did think she had the luxury of $ to follow the path she does.
She likens the alcohol industry to the tobacco industry. She does not care for the term “alcoholic” and provides ten reasons the term should be eliminated (she views it as akin to blaming the victim). She also has strong opinions that AA is not the only way to stop drinking, especially for women. It was not a viable alternative for her personally, which she explains in detail. Much of it has to do with its patriarchal origins.
She still encounters pressures to drink even when she tells people she is a non-drinker. Her observations on human nature and the reasons for this behavior are fascinating. I am interested in studies of addiction, as it is so pervasive in our society. This book offers alternative viewpoints on alcohol that are especially pertinent to women.
Memorable Passages:
“Although the alcohol industry insists… that it is focused on getting existing drinkers to switch brands and not on generating new recruits, there is evidence to the contrary.”
“I never have to drink again, and life is quite suddenly filled with possibility.”
“What made the label non-drinker downright magical was that it wasn’t synonymous with drunk, inebriate, junkie, addict, lush, wino, liar, or cheat.”
“To be clear, I believe that alcohol is addictive, that alcohol addiction is progressive, that some people are wired a bit differently and are more vulnerable to alcohol addiction. In fact, I don’t just believe these things, science tells me these things.”
“People are going to say awkward and awful things about your choice to not drink…Friends and strangers alike will think you owe them an explanation for why you stopped imbibing or try to pressure you into drinking.”