The Wine Purse

By Ellen Oppenheim

When I log into Facebook to peruse makeup tutorials and my friends latest Memes, it’s generally to wind down for the night. Hours later, I find that I have fallen into the deep rabbit hole that is Facebook videos. From how to get the perfect winged eyeliner, to dogs hugging their owners, you can see it all on the vast expanse that is the web. I’m not the only millennial to do this, anyone who has a smartphone will understand the mental trap that is social media. One thing that never fails to pop up on my feed is the latest alcohol product marketed to make consumption easier. What do I mean by this you ask? I’m talking about purses that dispense wine, bracelets that double as flasks, and sports bras with a built-in straw. While some of my favorite platforms, such as Buzzfeed, Refinery29 and even Cosmo, usually use their  popularity for good, they also seem to promote a lifestyle of binge drinking and normalizing alcoholic behavior. I am not a saint and I am not privy to a lifestyle of booze, but I can say as a 23-year-old sober alcoholic, these marketing campaigns need to stop.

I’ve heard the arguments and I’m sure anyone reading this has too: “it’s just a joke,” “no one buys that stuff,” or my personal favorite, “don’t be so uptight about it.” The reality is anyone (and I do mean anyone) can buy this stuff. At the age of 14, I had a pair of flip-flops that doubled as a flask. I carried around water in it, until one day I didn’t. What I am trying to say is this stuff seems funny, delightful, humorous, and harmless, but instead it’s really just another way that we are promoting what I like to call “the alcohol agenda” in society. 

A study done at John Hopkins University in 2006 concluded that “greater exposure to alcohol advertising contributes to an increase in drinking among underage youth. Specifically, for each additional ad a young person viewed (above the monthly youth average of 23), he or she drank 1% more. For each additional dollar per capita spent on alcohol advertising in a local market (above the national average of $6.80 per capita), young people drank 3% more.” What this means, in layman's terms, is that youth are affected by exposure to alcohol advertising and shirts, bracelets, and bags are no exception.

Somewhere along the line it became funny and acceptable for people to not only binge drink but to carry the message of drinking around with them. I see gym t-shirts that say things like “no pain, no champagne,” or “slay than rosè.” First, let me just say from a fashion point of  view, I am appalled, but more than that, when did this become a thing? When did everyone become so open about the amount they drink? When did it become normal to drink a bottle of wine a night?

For people who are considering sobriety or self reflecting on their usage, this gets murky. As if addiction doesn't come with enough rationalization as it is. Yet when we see things in stores that show off how much you like to drink, you start to believe your risky behavior is normal. Where do we draw the line?

Then there is the normal student, the middle schooler, high schooler or college age kid, who sees products like these and starts to think “everyone is doing it.” The truth is, not everyone is doing it. Plenty of people don't drink rosè after the gym or carry around vodka in their purse. When we normalize risky behavior, risky behavior starts to become normal. I hear people say things like “they’re kids, they’re just having fun,” or “I did the same thing.” We don't need to live in a society like that. We can monitor what our kids are looking at, what they are buying, and start an open dialogue about drugs, alcohol, and tobacco.

As someone who practiced risky behavior, hindsight is always going to be 20/20. There were plenty of red flags that I ignored. One thing that could have made things easier: social media content which didn’t make binge drinking seem like America’s favorite pastime. Kids, teenagers, and even the 20 something-year-old are malleable. Our brains are just starting to decide who we are. We're discovering our interests, our passions, and beginning our lives. Wouldn’t it be pleasant if we didn’t have to worry about ads showcasing bras that dispense wine?