It’s probably fair to say that the Senate judiciary committee hearings which took place earlier this month as part of the process of appointing Brett Kavanaugh to a seat on the U.S. Supreme court contained more references to beer consumption than do most such hearings. Kavanaugh’s heavy drinking habits, both as a teenager and as an adult, were scrutinised by senators and defended\u2014often belligerently\u2014by the man himself. The reasons for that level of scrutiny were clear, and I won’t rehash them here. Instead I want to focus on one of the things that stood out to me\u2014the way in which Kavanaugh chose to defend himself\u2014and how that fits into a centuries-old understanding of what it is to be a man.<\/p>\n
\u201cI like beer,\u201d Kavanaugh said at one point.<\/a> \u201cDo you like beer, Senator, or not? What do you like to drink? […] Senator, what do you like to drink?\u201d Over and over, he told those in attendance that his drinking habits were normal, with the implicit message that those who consume alcohol more moderately, or opt for fruity cocktails, or even abstain entirely, are not. Red-blooded, all-American men drink beer, you see, and lots of it. Brett Kavanaugh’s attitude isn’t surprising. Given the highly competitive, alcohol-fuelled atmospheres<\/a> of many American private high schools like the one he attended, it would be more surprising to find that he’d never professed a similar understanding of masculinity.<\/p>\n