Our alcohol 'culture'..?

Remember last week in this post we talked about the history of alcohol in Australia?
Right at the end I asked you to think about the word culture and what our Australian culture might look like and how alcohol and drinking might relate to that. Have any ideas?

What is 'culture' anyway?
Feel free to Google it but probably the simplest definition is: The way we do things around here.
Any group of people who spend time together, even here online, start making unsaid rules about what is normal, acceptable, desirable or undesirable. They have shared stories, shared values and the same kinds of understandings of what is socially o.k. They might have a language that is unique to that group, even though it might be technically the same language as other groups (English for example) they might have a specific way of using that language that is different to other groups. For example you probably use words and say things a different way to your parents do and when you are online you might use certain symbols, acronyms and hyphenations (lol, brb, <3, :() that they might not even be able to understand! That is your shared 'culture' with your friends and others.

A culture of a group is not beyond the control of those in the group however. Particularly for those that display leadership qualities, they are able to lead others in the group towards what they do and don't do, effectively changing the 'culture' of the group. But, just because you don't think you are a leader and have more of a tendency to follow doesn't mean that you don't have any power to operate differently to what the group is doing. You don't have to do everything your 'culture' tells you to do.

Culture is a flexible thing although it generally takes a long time to change. Culture is something that is negotiated over time by those who participate in it but you might not even be aware that it is happening. Think for a second about your group of friends. What do you think are things that are part of your culture? Is it the way you dress, the way you talk, the things that you do? How did you all agree that you were all going to act that way?

We have seen major culture changes in Australia in regards to smoking over several years. It used to be a common thing for a lot of people to smoke and you could smoke pretty much anywhere. Even teachers used to smoke in classrooms! How do you feel about that now? Weird right? Unhealthy? Gross?
This change in our culture from 'smoking is fine, even cool, something that is completely acceptable anywhere' to 'smoking is not cool, you're killing yourself and others' came from a variety of different factors. Some of the main factors were leaders in the health sector and government action taking a stand against it.

Thinking about all of these things where do you think we sit in Australia in regards to drinking being a part of our 'culture'? And do we have the power to change it? What do you think would have to happen in order for it to change, like smoking?

Hmmm...