Hegemonic femininity, motherhood, and alcohol in Australia

Ideals around femininity influence women's health behaviours, particularly for mothers facing hegemonic and gender normative pressures. This relationship becomes more complex when it comes to alcohol, where commercial, moral, health and pleasure-based discourses intersect. We examine how alcohol use is negotiated by employed mothers in the context of intensive motherhood, hegemonic femininity, neoliberal and postfeminist ideals. Drawing on interviews with 22 Australian working mothers, and informed by social constructionist and feminist epistemologies, we generated three themes. Women described managing the mental load of family life alongside paid employment, framing this as a matter of personal responsibility despite recognising gender inequalities. While alcohol symbolised freedom, defiance, and a way to reclaim identity, it was constantly negotiated in ways that aligned with 'good' motherhood, such as through controlled wine consumption, avoiding intoxication and prioritising caregiving duties. Amid women's constrained agency, alcohol use was perceived to offer a way to 'remake' motherhood. Ultimately, alcohol use functioned as both compliance and defiance, reproducing ideals around hegemonic femininity while allowing moments of autonomy. While women are encouraged, including by commercial actors, to express agency through alcohol use, this ignores the multiple social and institutional structures that underpin their lives and shape their drinking. We suggest that alcohol provides a useful lens into the contradictory and often restricting subject positions women negotiate, including the alignment between 'good' motherhood and neoliberal imperatives. Addressing these dynamics requires policies and strategies that recognise the gendered division of labour and support more equitable caregiving arrangements.