‘Pinking’ of alcohol marketing spurs culture of ‘wine moms,’ says author Ann Dowsett Johnston

When it comes to women and drinking, sometimes a glass of wine isn’t just a glass of wine, says journalist and author Ann Dowsett Johnston.

“Wine has become the code for ‘I deserve it, parenting is hard, I need to decompress,'” says the Toronto-based author of Drink: The Intimate Relationship Between Women and Alcohol.

That’s also led to the concerning rise of the culture of “wine moms,” Johnston says, with wines featuring names like “Girl’s Night Out” or wine glasses with “Mom Juice” written on them.

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“You see mommy wine festivals … you see moms and yoga and wine [events], you see painting and wine, you see mani-pedis and wine.… I would argue that most women see wine as a food group and as a decompression tool,” she said.

“There’s an enormous sense of self-medication.… The fastest thing you can do at the cutting…