Argument Synthesis
Binge drinking and alcoholism have been a long-time concern in American society. While the government and schools have made great efforts to tackle the alcohol problems by enacting laws and providing education, the situation of dysfunctional alcohol consumption hasn’t been sufficiently improved. In the essay “Drinking Games,” author Malcolm Gladwell proves to the readers that besides the biological attributes of a drinker, the culture that the drinker lives in also influences his or her drinking behaviors. By talking about cultural impact, he focuses on cultural customs of drinking reflected in drinking places. While Gladwell mainly talks about cultural customs, the report “Social and Cultural Aspects of Drinking” published …show more content…
Researchers find that in regions like Britain, North America and Australia, “drinking-places are more likely to be enclosed, insular, even secretive environments, with solid walls and doors, frosted windows and substantial screens or partitions” (SIRC). The secrecy and exclusion of drinking places reflect that people in these cultures are not willing to be seen or known by others when they are consuming alcohol. Hence, drinking places are designed to ensure that drinkers are concealed. There exist other societies such as France and Italy where people “tend to favor ‘uninhibited,’ highly visible drinking places, with large windows and open spaces, such that customers and facilities are clearly displayed” (SIRC). These features show that people in these societies are more open to alcohol, and see alcohol as a normal part of the everyday world because in their cultures “the consumption of alcohol is as integrated into common behaviors as sleeping or eating” (SIRC). Anthropologists have named uneasy alcohol cultures like the United States as ambivalent drinking cultures, while cultures that perceive drinking alcohol as a daily activity are referred to as integrated drinking cultures. Although naming these two kinds of drinking cultures doesn’t help in understanding how a culture influences …show more content…
In Gladwell’s essay, he examines both first generation Italian Americans and second or third generation Italian-Americans living in New Haven, Connecticut. He finds that while both generations consume alcohol greatly, the first generation is responsible for fewer incidents related to alcoholism than the second or the third generation. To account for this observation, he explains that first generation Italian Americans are still more inclined toward original Italian culture, while the second or the third generation has already assimilated to the American culture. His explanation can, therefore, prove that when consuming alcohol, people behave in accordance with their expectations of how they will behave under the effect of alcohol. While the Italian drinking culture is integrated, the American drinking culture is ambivalent, which gives rise to two different expectations of the impact of alcohol (Gladwell). Besides cultural observations, there are also experiments conducted by researchers to demonstrate the relationship between people’s expectations of alcohol-induced behaviors and their actual behaviors. Experiments were conducted under controlled conditions cross-culturally, however, results that came out from the same type of drinking cultures were similar. In ambivalent drinking cultures, participants were divided into two groups, one given alcohol and the other
Binge drinking and alcoholism have been a long-time concern in American society. While the government and schools have made great efforts to tackle the alcohol problems by enacting laws and providing education, the situation of dysfunctional alcohol consumption hasn’t been sufficiently improved. In the essay “Drinking Games,” author Malcolm Gladwell proves to the readers that besides the biological attributes of a drinker, the culture that the drinker lives in also influences his or her drinking behaviors. By talking about cultural impact, he focuses on cultural customs of drinking reflected in drinking places. While Gladwell mainly talks about cultural customs, the report “Social and Cultural Aspects of Drinking” published …show more content…
Researchers find that in regions like Britain, North America and Australia, “drinking-places are more likely to be enclosed, insular, even secretive environments, with solid walls and doors, frosted windows and substantial screens or partitions” (SIRC). The secrecy and exclusion of drinking places reflect that people in these cultures are not willing to be seen or known by others when they are consuming alcohol. Hence, drinking places are designed to ensure that drinkers are concealed. There exist other societies such as France and Italy where people “tend to favor ‘uninhibited,’ highly visible drinking places, with large windows and open spaces, such that customers and facilities are clearly displayed” (SIRC). These features show that people in these societies are more open to alcohol, and see alcohol as a normal part of the everyday world because in their cultures “the consumption of alcohol is as integrated into common behaviors as sleeping or eating” (SIRC). Anthropologists have named uneasy alcohol cultures like the United States as ambivalent drinking cultures, while cultures that perceive drinking alcohol as a daily activity are referred to as integrated drinking cultures. Although naming these two kinds of drinking cultures doesn’t help in understanding how a culture influences …show more content…
In Gladwell’s essay, he examines both first generation Italian Americans and second or third generation Italian-Americans living in New Haven, Connecticut. He finds that while both generations consume alcohol greatly, the first generation is responsible for fewer incidents related to alcoholism than the second or the third generation. To account for this observation, he explains that first generation Italian Americans are still more inclined toward original Italian culture, while the second or the third generation has already assimilated to the American culture. His explanation can, therefore, prove that when consuming alcohol, people behave in accordance with their expectations of how they will behave under the effect of alcohol. While the Italian drinking culture is integrated, the American drinking culture is ambivalent, which gives rise to two different expectations of the impact of alcohol (Gladwell). Besides cultural observations, there are also experiments conducted by researchers to demonstrate the relationship between people’s expectations of alcohol-induced behaviors and their actual behaviors. Experiments were conducted under controlled conditions cross-culturally, however, results that came out from the same type of drinking cultures were similar. In ambivalent drinking cultures, participants were divided into two groups, one given alcohol and the other