Domesticating Drink

Paper Summary:

This paper reviews Catherine Gilbert Murdock's book "Domesticating Drink: Women, Men, and Alcohol in America, 1870-1940". The book focuses on the outlooks, agendas, and leadership of two organizations, the Women's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU, founded 1874) and the Women's Organization for National Prohibition Reform (WONPR, founded 1929).

From the Paper:

"These two organizations are extremely significant in American history because they indicate that so many diverse and discordant views can exist together in one complex society. They also indicate the power of women in American politics, and how American political reform has changed over the years. Women formed both organizations and kept them going until Prohibition was repealed in 1933. They showed men that women could organize, fight for what they believed in, and rally around a cause. They also showed that women were no longer content to simply run the household and care for the children. When the WCTU was formed, women had few rights and lived in a restrictive, Victorian society. When the WONPR was formed, women had gained the vote, and were taking a more active role in society and in politics. The differences between the two organizations represent the changing roles of women in society, and the freedoms women were beginning to discover and desire. "

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