Quit Like a Woman: The Radical Choice to Not Drink in a Culture Obsessed with Alcohol

Whitaker laments the mixed messages that people receive from a young age that they are supposed to enjoy alcohol but never become alcoholics. She asks the reader to imagine how silly it would be if society did the same thing with cocaine, normalizing its use but stigmatizing addiction. She feels that the comparison is not very outlandish, citing British research that found that out of all legal and illegal drugs, alcohol was found to cause the most harm to users and others. Whitaker encourages the reader to ask themselves if alcohol is a barrier to their goals or self-esteem.

She also acknowledges the subjective nature of alcohol use disorder. People have vastly different experiences with coming to identify as someone with alcohol use disorder: some take online quizzes on the subject while others seek doctors’ advice, with varying results. Instead of focusing on the label of alcoholism or trying to understand why she was an alcoholic, Whitaker wishes she hadn’t been so focused on the label or the why of her addiction and had sooner realized the bigger questions, like why she was so uncomfortable with simply being herself.

Whitaker cites Marc Lewis, the author of The Biology of Desire, who argues that addiction is not a “disease” but rather an extreme manifestation of habits that have a powerful neurological foundation.