Drinking in Social Settings Across Cultures, by Bella Braverman

While being a college student in Spain I have noticed that the locals here have a much different relationship with alcohol than my peers in the United States. Spaniards drink more causally and the goal is not always to get drunk. Alcohol is drunk differently in Spain, as a part of their diet and Mediterranean lifestyle. Sharing a drink at a meal or snack is a large part of Spanish culture. I have learned that it is common for children to have their first drink at a young age, commonly with their family. Additionally, an article published in “El País” by Luz Sánchez-Mellado shared that in some cases alcohol is used to help relieve girls from period pain. It is interesting to learn about how alcohol is used to help individuals because in my culture it is primarily viewed as a negative substance. How integrated alcohol is into Spanish culture, greatly changes how young individuals interact with the substance and it is seen less as a danger. This explains why we do not see the same bridge of drinking culture among young adults. In the United States, many young adults binge drink when they go to college (age 18) or even in high school. It is the general norm in the United States to drink alcohol to get drunk. Some think that this is due to the fact that the drinking age in the United States is 21. I think that if the federal and societal laws were not so strict around alcohol use, the United States would not see as much binge drinking and addiction.

In class, we have discussed how culture is deontic. This means that individuals in a culture have general norms and expectations as to how we should behave with respect to different realities. How different cultures interact and use alcohol is a great example of this idea. Although alcohol has the same effect on Americans and Spaniards, how each culture uses alcohol greatly differs.