Mothers’ alcohol consumption has often been portrayed as problematic: firstly, because of the effects of alcohol on the foetus, and secondly, because of the association between motherhood and morality. Refracted through the disciplinary lens of public health, mothers’ alcohol consumption has been the target of numerous messages and discourses designed to monitor and regulate women's bodies and reproductive health. This study explores how mothers negotiated this dilemmatic terrain, drawing on accounts of drinking practices of women in paid work in the early parenting period living in Northern England in 2017–2018. Almost all of the participants reported alcohol abstention during pregnancy and the postpartum period and referred to low-risk drinking practices. A feature of their accounts was appearing knowledgeable and familiar with public health messages, with participants often deploying ‘othering’, and linguistic expressions seen in public health advice. Here, we conceptualise these as Assumed Shared Alcohol Narratives (ASANs). ASANs, we argue, allowed participants to present themselves as morally legitimate parents and drinkers, with a strong awareness of risk discourses which protected the self from potential attacks of irresponsible behaviour. As such, these narratives can be viewed as neoliberal narratives, contributing to the shaping of highly responsible and self-regulating subjectivities.

中文翻译：

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协商“负责任饮酒”的身份：探索职业母亲在育儿初期的饮酒记录

母亲的饮酒经常被描绘成问题：首先，因为酒精对胎儿的影响，其次，因为母性与道德之间的关联。通过公共卫生的学科视角，母亲的饮酒已经成为旨在监测和调节女性身体和生殖健康的众多信息和话语的目标。本研究利用 2017 年至 2018 年居住在英格兰北部的早期育儿期间从事有偿工作的女性的饮酒习惯，探讨母亲如何应对这一困境。几乎所有参与者都报告说在怀孕期间和产后戒酒，并提到了低风险饮酒习惯。他们账户的一个特点是显得知识渊博，熟悉公共卫生信息，参与者经常使用“其他”，以及在公共卫生建议中看到的语言表达。在这里，我们将这些概念化为假设的共享酒精叙事 (ASAN)。我们认为，ASAN 允许参与者将自己展示为道德上合法的父母和饮酒者，对风险话语有强烈的认识，这些话语保护自己免受不负责任行为的潜在攻击。因此，这些叙述可以被视为新自由主义的叙述，有助于塑造高度负责和自我调节的主体性。允许参与者将自己展示为道德上合法的父母和饮酒者，对风险话语有强烈的认识，这些话语保护自己免受不负责任行为的潜在攻击。因此，这些叙述可以被视为新自由主义的叙述，有助于塑造高度负责和自我调节的主体性。允许参与者将自己展示为道德上合法的父母和饮酒者，对风险话语有强烈的认识，这些话语保护自己免受不负责任行为的潜在攻击。因此，这些叙述可以被视为新自由主义的叙述，有助于塑造高度负责和自我调节的主体性。