Drinking Experiences of Women Alcoholics: A Feminist Approach

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore and describe the experience of Korean women alcoholics from their perspectives using feminist approach. Methods: The data were collected by individual in-depth interviews with ten participants. Results : Four main themes were emerged from thematic content analyses; a) ‘the good girl’ b) "the emancipated “child”’ c) "the Hyung-Mo-Yang-Cheo (wise mother, good wife) hiding behind an alcohol bottle 5 and d) 6 the “shell” of womanhood 5 . Conclusion: These results showed that the gender norms rooted in the traditional family relationships interact with various individual needs, which was related to the motivation of drinking and the pattern of drinking behavior. The study suggested that drinking experiences among Korean women should be understood in the contexts of socio-cultural factors and a intervention program is developed to change Korean women's internalized gender norms.