PATRONS OF A SINGLES BAR
One only needs a singles bar to examine a unique cross section of life. These interesting varieties of individuals, give an impression of how a singles bar can effect morality. Such a place also vindicates compatibility and has a sociable aura. This kind of bar is generally a place to gather and discuss nightly activities, a hot spot for the lonesome, and a turf for the inebriated.
Giving directions to everyone incorporated with the happening events of the evening, can be a difficult task. Most individuals use a familiar singles bar as a standard meeting place. From this point, getting a drink while wasting time for a later event; or even planning further activities is possible. In edition, such a convivial location promotes functions in the local area, similar to the showing of Monday Night Football on a big screen TV.
A common individual, who is always among the population at a singles bar, is a lonesome person. They attend such a bar to escape from the feeling of being alone. Going to a singles bar gives this type of isolated public figure a better opportunity to communicate with others. In edition, a desolate may feel the need to be liked. They will repeatedly attend such eligible places to come in contact with a compatible companion or simply to meet new people. For this individual, going to a singles bar merely relieves the everyday stresses of being forlorn.
Another collective group of individuals that are known to frequent single bars, are those who are there simply to imbibe alcohol. Although it is not an impressive situation or in itself a pretty picture, it is fact that there is a percentage of persons who are present solely for the purpose of getting drunk. The main incentive why alcoholics are lured to a singles bar is for the drink specials. These distilled beverage bargains are supposed to be encouraging to those who are trying to pick up a date; yet, the specials seem to be the most enticing to the heavy drinkers.
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. He specifically examines how changing the drinking places changes people’s drinking behaviors by presenting the alcohol myopia theory.
Mantel, B. (2006, August 18). Drinking on campus. CQ Researcher, 16, 649-672. Retrieved from http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/
In every walk of life, people seek refuge from the judgmental perception of their contemporaries. Thus, many people live in secrecy. For them, secrecy is an absolute necessity in dodging undesired scrutiny and maintaining normalcy in public. When it comes to gender and the expression of it, lines are often blurred. While some hide, others brazenly parade their sexuality in public and their alternative perspectives on gender roles. In “The Bowery as Haven and Spectacle” from Gay New York, by George Chauncey, explores the emergence of the Bowery “fairy” bars, and how they became a sanctuary for the queer and working-class of New York City. He discusses in great length the tension that arises between the middle-class and working-class, the bars as a spectacle and a place to be entertained, the solicitation of sex work, and the makings of gay culture in the bar scene. The lines of gender were blurred when men took up cross dressing and the mannerisms normally associated with women. On the other hand, Merril Mushroom, writer of "How to Engage in Courting Rituals 1950's Butch-Style in the Bar", complies a laundry list of rules for butch lesbians on methods of attracting other women. Here, females cross gender boundaries and take on masculine personas. With this said, both pieces show the development of alternative gender identities. However, this switch in gender roles seldom occur outside the bar scene. Despite the semi-public gender blurring, those who identify with this lifestyle still feel the need to express themselves in an environment most accommodating to their blatant disregard of gender norms. The aforementioned pieces answer questions in regards to why one must live in secrecy, and how this secrecy gives way to the developme...
spending a day working very low paying jobs, men would visit a saloon and spend all of their wages on alcohol (7,39). This destroyed marriages and families because not only then would the family not have any money to spend on food or the simple necessities for the women and children. Also, the incidence of domestic violence increased as a result of men’s intoxication. (7,40).
“‘A guy goes nuts if he ain’t got nobody. Don’t make no difference who the guy is… I tell ya a guy gets too lonely an’ he gets sick,” (Steinbeck 73). In this statement, Crooks, a character in John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, divulges what effect loneliness can have on a human being. In the novel, the two main characters escape to a ranch where they must face the conflict that seems to follow them. Set in the 1930s during the Great Depression, Steinbeck brilliantly portrays the loneliness and suspicion that was common during the time. Much like in everyday life, we can see the way in which loneliness drives people to become isolated, crave companionship, and refuse to express emotion.
The purpose of Philip Slater’s book The Pursuit of Loneliness is to “reach some understanding of the forces which are unraveling our society” for his readers (xxii). It is a common conception that America is the best country, an idea which is substantiated by economic figures. However, Americans are not happy. According to Slater, “all societies frustrate certain human needs and satiate others (because) humanity and any particular society’s idea of what humanity should be is never very exact” (2). In America, the gap between reality and perception is growing farther and farther apart, at human expense. Americans work their entire lives for the future, in the pursuit of economic security, which ultimately leads to continued unhappiness in the present. American culture “struggles more and more violently to maintain itself, (but) is less and less able to hide its fundamental antipathy towards human life and human satisfaction” (122). Slater’s book teaches people about the existence of the “wide gap between the fantasies Americans live by and the realities they live in,” in the hopes that this will inspire people to react in positive ways (xxiii).
Alcoholic beverages make their appearance in many places other than the local bar or liquor store. These drinks have been known to be consumed at social
Do alcohol ads portray the products being enjoyed in the most appealing settings and by the most attractive people? Of course they often do --- no less than do ads for cars, instant coffee and anti-fungal sprays. That normalcy of alcohol ads helps demystify the product --- which is a good place to begin encouraging realistic, moderate, and responsible attitudes about it.
Throughout history, society has engaged in taking substances such as alcohol, that alter our physical being or our psychological state of mind. There are many experiences and pressures that force people to feel like they have to drink in order to cope with life, but for many alcohol is a part of everyday life, just like any other beverage. Alcohol is introduced to us in many ways, through our family, television, movies, and friends’. These “sociocultural variants are at least as important as physiological and psychological variants when we are trying to understand the interrelations of alcohol and human behavior”#. How we perceive drinking and continue drinking can be determined by the drinking habits we see, either by who we drink with, or the attitudes about drinking we learn over the years. The chances of people drinking in ways that can harm others and ultimately themselves can be seen by the correlation of educational lessons, cultural beliefs and the usage of alcohol. Looking at all the possibilities, the complex question we must ask is why do people drink? Is it through their defiance of law, the accessibility of alcohol, teachings of others or the values set in place in their society?
Pittman, David J. and Helene Raskin White, eds. Society, Culture, and Drinking Patterns Reexamined. New Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutgers Center of Alcohol Studies, 1991.
Frey and Schonbeck explain that it is estimated that over 76 million people worldwide are affected by alcohol abuse or dependence. The chance of having an alcoholic in one’s life is very high. Children that grow up in an environment with an alcoholic may increase that child’s chance of becoming an alcoholic themselves. In the United States, the most commonly abused drug among youth is alcohol. Even though the legal drinking age is 21, nearly 20% of all alcohol consumed in the United States is by people under the legal age (83). In fact, when youth start drinking at social events in their teenage years, they are greatly increasing their risk of developing alcohol problems (85). Alcoholism can affect people of all ages. Furthermore, some experts try to differentiate between alcoholics and social drinkers. Typically, they base this off of five categories. Social drinkers do not drink alone. They consume minimal amounts of alcohol during social functions. Situational drinkers may not ever drink unless they are stressed out. These drinkers are more likely to drink by themselves. Problem drinkers can be described as a drinker that alcohol has caused problems in their life. However, they usually respond to advice given by others. Binge drinkers are out of control in their alcohol consumption. They may drink until they pass out or worse. Alcoholic drinkers have found that their lives have become unmanageable and that they are completely powerless over alcohol (84). Alcoholics should be cautious of their surroundings to prevent
In life people are be alone by choice, no matter if it was flat out what the wanted or alone due to some kind of forced circumstance that grew out of a previous choice they made, but when it comes down to it loneliness is never truly desired. In the short stories A Painful Case and Eveline we see examples of each type of loneliness. In A Painful Case Mr. Duffy for the most part of his life chooses to be alone. In Eveline, Eveline seems to be lonely because she’s unable to leave her duties to her family. In both stories the main characters display their desire to have someone near but when they’re finally given the chance it’s inevitably taken away from them, and then they’re driven back into the entrapment of loneliness.
This research paper will help enable sociologists to determine what the ongoing effects have on an alcoholic and further provides information on the long-term effects that society has to deal with. The significance of alcoholism and sociology is the ability of sociologists to research and discover how human behaviour is affected on many aspects of its effects on a person. An alcoholic can be described as someone who is addicted to drinking alcoholic beverages in excess. What starts out as social drinking can lead to excessive drinking and the many problems associated with alcohol abuse and i...
The increasing trend of people living alone is addressed in Eric Klinenberg’s book “Going Solo”, which offers a good explanation of the different social forces behind this trend, and investigating the psychology of the lone dweller. He starts the book off with an introduction quoting the Bible and Aristotle, laying down the difference between being alone and living alone, and introduces the context of the American individualism, and how living alone made its way into the cities. In parts of the book, he accredited this to the emancipation of women that led to increased job prospects, the flourishing property market that attracted young people to cities, and kept them there with the continual gentrification and cultural and social activities.
Societies vary greatly throughout the world, as do human experiences. What it means to be a social being in Japan, may not equate with what it means to be a social being in Central Africa. Throughout this essay I will argue that, while society may vary, the desire to be social exists in all cultures throughout history. The world may have always had its recluses, those who attempt to live a solitary life, but even these people can be seen as a reflection of their previous culture and society, fulfilling a role and remaining tied to their pre-existing relationships, using and being used by society like any other social being (Stone 2010: 6). Throughout this essay I will use the example of the Japanese and Central African social being to show how experiences of society change and are shaped by one's location. Further I will explain what it is to be a social being, and how society shapes our experiences, whether we remain within it or not, through the experiences of various hermits and recluses throughout history.