Hen parties: Bonding or brawling?

Eldridge, A. and Roberts, M. 2008. Hen parties: Bonding or brawling? Drugs: Education, Prevention and Policy. 15 (3), pp. 323-328. https://doi.org/10.1080/09687630801920872

TitleHen parties: Bonding or brawling?
TypeJournal article
AuthorsEldridge, A. and Roberts, M.
Abstract

While the number of marriages taking place in Britain continues to decline, the hen party has become both an accepted marriage ritual and a source of controversy. In previous research we have found bar owners and town centre managers eager to discourage hen parties from their town centres and venues. Equally, in the popular press, the hen party is increasingly portrayed in comparable terms to the 'stag do'; a night of drunken excess and embarrassing misdemeanours. This paper examines the hen party in terms of the articulation of gender, alcohol and public space. Through a wide-ranging literature survey and pilot interviews, we ask if the hen party exaggerates existing behaviours and practices, or whether it represents an entirely new, albeit limited, example of how women are using public space at night. Against the backdrop of a historical anxiety about women and public space, and growing concern about women and binge drinking, we examine the hen party as both a site of transgression, empowerment and female bonding, and as a unique opportunity to explore women's shifting attitudes to late-night culture.

KeywordsHen parties, drunkenness, night-time economy, gender, late-night culture
JournalDrugs: Education, Prevention and Policy
Journal citation15 (3), pp. 323-328
ISSN0968-7637
Year2008
PublisherTaylor & Francis
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1080/09687630801920872
Web address (URL)http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-45849094069&partnerID=MN8TOARS
Publication dates
PublishedJun 2008

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