# Should women drink? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 2, 2016, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-women-drink/744984 "2016-02-02T20:46:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2016, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-women-drink/744984/41 "2016-02-03T16:35:05Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > What does any of that have to with the CDC recommendation. Do you think they should recommend that women don’t consider the potential problems that drinking can cause if they become pregnant? Should they recommend that women do drink when pregnant? If all they were doing was presenting information, and saying “There, now make a decision taking that into consideration,” that’d be fine, but they’re not. They’re telling women what to do. People are already babysitting pregnant women like they lose their brains when they become pregnant, and this will probably make it worse. Bars have refused entrance to visibly pregnant women, without waiting to see what they ordered. So they didn’t have the ability even to go in and sit down with friends and drink a ginger ale or decaf coffee. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2016, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-women-drink/744984/42 "2016-02-03T16:52:42Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > Should we treat any adult humans as less than adult? Apparently so, according to the government. I wasn’t allowed to drink alcohol after I became an adult, at 18, according to the government. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2016, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-women-drink/744984/43 "2016-02-03T17:00:42Z")
I think most responsible women these days stop or slow down on the drinking _when they are trying to get pregnant_, and they use BC when they are trying NOT to get pregnant. Doesn’t seem like such big deal to me. The thing is, if you wait until you _know_ you are pregnant to stop drinking, it might be too late. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2016, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-women-drink/744984/44 "2016-02-03T17:03:55Z")
That’s true. It’s just that some women take years to get pregnant, while some women get pregnant in spite of using birth control. It’s not as cut and dried as “You use BC, and are safe, and can get plastered; stop using it, and get pregnant immediately.” ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2016, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-women-drink/744984/45 "2016-02-03T19:27:50Z")
> [@Drunky\_Smurf](#): > > Apparently so, according to the government. I wasn’t allowed to drink alcohol after I became an adult, at 18, according to the government. Depends on your state, but in most you are absolutely allowed to \*drink \*at 18, or even as a minor. Exceptions include at restaurants and with family. You can’t \*purchase \*alcohol, though. ---
**Author:** ![you\_with\_the\_face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ecccb3/32.png) [@you\_with\_the\_face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/you_with_the_face)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2016, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-women-drink/744984/46 "2016-02-03T21:15:45Z")
As someone in public health, I can see both sides of the argument. That said, I think there are better ways to communicate the recommendation than what has been posted. > [@CDC](#): > > Women can > •talk with their health care provider about their plans for pregnancy, their alcohol use, and ways to prevent pregnancy if they are not planning to get pregnant; and > • **stop drinking alcohol if they are trying to get pregnant or could get pregnant.** Why can’t this be “stop drinking alcohol if you are pregnant or _reasonably likely to be pregnant_”? “Could get pregnant” is essentially any pre-menopausal woman who is sexually active, _even if she’s using birth control_. Because no BC is 100% effective, right? I think its vastly unhelpful to paint with such a broad brush. I suspect the most important women to target are those who 1) drink excessively fairly frequently and 2) are at risk of not knowing they are pregnant until relatively late. Rather than trying to scare them off from drinking completely (which is not going to happen, let’s be honest), it would make more sense to encourage regular pregnancy testing in sexually active heavy drinkers if they have certain risk factors, such as irregular menstrual cycles that can make it difficult to suspect pregnancy. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2016, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-women-drink/744984/47 "2016-02-03T21:22:57Z")
> [@drewder](#): > > According to a new CDC recommendation women of child bearing age should avoid alcohol unless they are on birth control. What do you think of this recommendation? cite: [CDC: Young women should avoid alcohol unless using birth control](http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2016/02/02/cdc-urges-young-women-avoid-all-alcohol-unless-theyre-using-contraception/79701890/) What I think is we need a budget amendment saying, “None of the funds made available for injury prevention and control at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention may be used to advocate or promote alcohol control.” Where is the National Alcohol Association when we need it? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2016, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-women-drink/744984/48 "2016-02-04T01:07:56Z")
As my wife says, just think how WW II might have turned out if Hitler’s SS had been strong and healthy instead of the feeble, pathetic things they actually were as a result of all the beer and wine their mothers drank whilst pregnant… ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2016, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-women-drink/744984/49 "2016-02-04T02:16:23Z")
> [@DeepLiquid](#): > > Regarding the CDC recommendation - How about this instead, 'men who are fertile must use contraception every time they engage in sex with a fertile female", seems fair. That will work well. In each generation the population drops by a factor of what? at least 1/10 I’d say. And and even higher percentage of the babies will have FAS as all the pregnancies would be surprises. ---
**Author:** ![Turpentine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecd19e/32.png) [@Turpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turpentine)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2016, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-women-drink/744984/50 "2016-02-04T20:45:49Z")
> [@Gary\_T](#): > > I share your skepticism there. I’ve gotten frustrated with sites that absolutely refuse to make a distinction between smoking one cigarette a year and two packs a day. Their answer to questions about the relative risk of various levels of smoking skirt the issue by saying “there is no safe level of tobacco use.” It may be technically true but it’s totally unhelpful. Yeah, I agree. I used to smoke one cigarette a day (eventually I quit when my dog died- I used to smoke that one cigarette during our evening walk). A few people who knew this tut-tutted at me being a smoker and how dangerous it is, etc. During this time I once had a doctor’s appointment and she was reading my general medical history. She asked if I smoked, I said yes- one a day- and she cheerfully chuckled and said “Oh, that’s nothing…” I really, really liked her in that moment. In response to the OP, this article sums up fairly well why the CDC report was so condescending. I like the part where she says “The most important fact about you is not that you are people but that you might potentially contain people one day.” [https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/compost/wp/2016/02/03/the-cdcs-incredibly-condescending-warning-to-young-women/](https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/compost/wp/2016/02/03/the-cdcs-incredibly-condescending-warning-to-young-women/) ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2016, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-women-drink/744984/51 "2016-02-05T02:13:40Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > My knowledge is a little hazy (it’s the drink), but prohibition and suffrage had strong links, didn’t they? Just among the ones who couldn’t get laid. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2016, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-women-drink/744984/52 "2016-02-05T03:11:53Z")
> [@DeepLiquid](#): > > Speaking as a lesbian who used to be fertile, they can get bent. More invisibility for us, you don’t fuck men so your health issues are not relevant enough to be addressed. How does this make lesbians invisible? Because lesbians don’t get pregnant? Or because they’re immune to FAS? ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2016, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-women-drink/744984/53 "2016-02-05T05:24:46Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > How does this make lesbians invisible? Because lesbians don’t get pregnant? Or because they’re immune to FAS? No. Because Lesbians can be alcoholics, but apparently post-menopausal women and Lesbians health isn’t a concern since they won’t ever contain a baby that one has to be concerned about. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2016, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-women-drink/744984/54 "2016-02-05T12:44:28Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > No. Because Lesbians can be alcoholics, but apparently post-menopausal women and Lesbians health isn’t a concern since they won’t ever contain a baby that one has to be concerned about. Though the actual CDC poster is condescending across all areas of a woman’s life - not just her reproductive biology. Lesbians, presumably, can also be warned that their judgement is impaired after drinking. Or they could bang their knee on the coffee table when they are a little tipsy. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2016, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-women-drink/744984/55 "2016-02-05T14:59:57Z")
I am past child bearing age, and never drank much, but I find myself engaged by this patronizing campaign. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-women-drink/744984.md?page=2)