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Drinking Like a Man: the Paradox of Excessive Drinking for Seventeenth-Century Dutch Youths

History Department at the Vrije Universiteit of Amsterdam, the Netherlands

In the early modern period, drinking alcohol was an integral part of Dutch social and cultural life. Toasts were made to the health of unborn babies, for job nominations, and at funerals. Young people started to consume alcohol at an early age. However, within this culture they had to learn how to drink in moderation. Excessive drinking was not only a cardinal sin, it was also a paradox in the realm of gender. For males, the act of getting drunk and losing control was a flaw on their masculinity. They in fact became like women who were believed to be incapable of controlling their mind and body. On the other hand, the ability to drink great quantities of alcohol symbolized an age-old form of masculinity. Imbibing in "wine, women, and song" were liminal rites in becoming men and how young men demarcated themselves from being boys.

Key Words: youth culture • masculinity • alcoholism • rites of passage • early modern Holland

Journal of Family History, Vol. 29, No. 3, 237-252 (2004)
DOI: 10.1177/0363199004266910


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