Dry January: Butch Edition
the one where I give Dry January a try....
Hello Handsome Humans! It's 2023, but I'm not exactly sure where 2022 went!
It’s January and this time of year is filled with marketing ploys to convince you to do something you've never done before, be the person you want to be, or more often than not, the person the marketing companies want you to be so you spend your money with them.
I’m not a fan of resolutions, especially the commercialization of them, but I do enjoy a movement for the month every once in a while, and Dry January is one that’s been on my mind for a while. Started by Alcohol Change UK, but now spread internationally, it’s a movement to change the way we look at and consume alcohol.
Substance Use in the Queer community is a very real concern. Our history is deeply rooted in bars and dark corners, hidden away from society. We have been forced to live in closets and live in fear of our lives. Bars were our safe space, and in many cases, still are. All that stress of the fear and hiding has devastating impacts on our mental health and puts us at greater risk for substance use and addiction. And since our safe spaces are bars…it makes that connection to alcohol almost seamless.
Masculinity is also heavily tied to alcohol consumption, a nice cool beer in a tall glass or a warm caramel colored liquor in a short glass on the rocks. These images scream masculinity in our society. So as Queer Butch humans, it’s pushed upon us in a lot of ways. We are socialized to believe that alcohol consumption makes us masculine.
In working on this project over the years, I’ve learned a lot about this and do a lot to try to break down the belief that everything we do has to be tied to imbibing. Personally, I am not an alcoholic nor am I in recovery. I do my best to remain aware and work towards including it in an appropriate way in our photos and messaging. We are often stuck in a difficult spot because the most queer friendly spaces happen to be bars, and the businesses willing to support our project and donate space. They also happen to be the only places with the masculine aesthetic that we are looking for. It’s something we are always aware of and very intentional with.
In an effort to be more aware, I’m going to intentionally observe Dry January. Full disclosure, it’s not a very big stretch, I rarely drink. But I’d like to take a chance to intentionally not drink, and explore what that looks like, talk about what I see along the way, and talk a bit about how drinking ties into our project and butch culture.
Follow along with me this month on my Dry January journey! Your input is welcome! Comment or DM me if you have any suggestions or would like me to dive into a particular topic!
Non-Alcoholic Cheers, Queers!