It seems as though Uzbekistan’s public television is trying to help out their ladies when it comes to alcoholism, which is a serious problem among men and women in the former Soviet Union—except a recent program seems to be preaching more about Uzbek women’s image than their health.
“It is worth saying a lot of pleasant words about females, the owners of grace and charm. However, [alcohol can lead to] an unpleasant situation that does not suit an Uzbek woman,” said the reporter of a recent story on O’zbekiston Channel Number One. “For instance, we can see women and girls drinking alcohol during weddings and parties in cafes and restaurants.”
This program uses sexist and unfounded scientific reports in an attempt to curb women’s drinking, claiming that women become addicted to alcohol twice as quickly as men do and that women are ten times more difficult to treat for alcoholism than men are.
As Eurasia Net discusses in their initial report on the program, “while many studies have found women more vulnerable than men to the effects of alcohol, a Harvard-sponsored report, among others, says women are just as treatable as men for alcoholism.”
The Uzbek public television program also warns that women who drink while pregnant are more likely to give birth to children with birth defects, which is a valid reason for pregnant women not to indulge in alcoholic libations. Unfortunately, reports finish the story by verbally shaking their fingers at women who socialize in restaurants.
“It would be appropriate for women and girls to gather and exchange their family experience and views on educating their children instead of attending such get-togethers, which are started and finished with drinking,” the story said.
I think I need a drink after hearing that condescending bullshit.
Photo via Zsuzsanna Kilian on stock.xchng
