Women, Equal Rights, and Prohibition
Martin Luther King Jr. Day is celebrated on the third Monday of January every year. A day of remembrance dedicated to a seminal figure in US civil rights and non-violent activism, this year it fell on January 16th. And while MLK Day deserves the majority of our attention, the wine and alcohol world also knows the 16th as the commemoration of a more cautionary time in our history.
The National Prohibition Act, also known as the Volstead Act, was ratified by the US Congress on January 16th, 1920. It is a mark of how important a moment this was in our country's history that we have the option to celebrate two holidays related to it: Prohibition Remembrance Day on the 16th, and National Repeal Day on December 5th - the day when the 21st Amendment ended the Prohibition Act. This week is the 103rd anniversary of Prohibition, and with our Galentine's celebration coming up, it's a good time to reflect on one group that was instrumental in getting the Volstead Act passed.
According to the book Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition, by Daniel Okrent, women like Susan B. Anthony, as well as women's political groups like the Women's Christian Temperance Union were early supporters of not just reducing the use of alcohol, but eliminating it altogether. According to the National Archives, "Women were strongly behind the temperance movement, for alcohol was seen as the destroyer of families and marriages. Men would often spend their money on alcohol, leaving women with no money to provide for their children." Many women also believed that outlawing alcohol would reduce instances of physical violence in the home and other social ills like crime and mental illness. They also hoped that allying themselves with a cause that was picking up political steam would gain them political allies and clout that would help them get other legislation passed, like the right to vote.
Today, things seem to have changed a bit. Forbes Magazine reports that in 2021, women accounted for 59% of all wine drinkers. Women are also often associated with wine in the media - drinking with girlfriends, having a glass after work, and so on. But this week, it's worth remembering that womens' relationship with alcohol and wine in the US has a long and complex history, one that has been threaded together with their history of fighting for equal rights - to say nothing of their critical involvement in the Civil Rights Movement itself.
Check out this Politico article for a rare viewpoint on Prohibition's policy successes. Or, read this article on Uncorked: the blog of the California Wine Club, on how California wineries were specifically affected by the Volstead Act.