Drink like a Man! : A Qualitative Study on Toxic Masculinity and Bifurcated Consciousness in College Drinking Narratives

Abstract

The purpose of this project was to examine how gender influences problematic drinking on college campuses. In addition to close to 2000 college students dying per year, a host of other problems result from excessive alcohol consumption. We add to the extensive literature on gender and college drinking by employing a Feminist analysis of the “college drinking career narratives” of 20 females and 20 males found in qualitative research articles and on the internet, explicitly looking for instances of “toxic masculinity” and “bifurcated consciousness”. Using NVivo qualitative analysis software we coded and performed content analysis on college stories centered on drinking and resistance to drinking. The findings indicate that toxic masculinity was very influential on excessive male drinking behavior, whereas bifurcated consciousness was highly influential on female drinking behavior. While the connection between gender ideology and social behaviors such as drinking are complex our results suggest that intervention strategies targeted towards prevention of problematic drinking, as well as interventions for problematic drinking, may have greater success if designed with consideration for the differential influences of toxic masculinity and bifurcated consciousness on men and women.