Can a gender inequality really exist with regards to Alcohol? Apparently the answer to that question can be put up for debate. Alcohol has an unequal affect on men and women. This results in the intoxication of women far faster with fewer amounts of alcohol than men. It is common knowledge that this is partly due to the fact that women are typically smaller than men. Also, women generally have a higher percentage of body fat compared to body water which affects alcohol absorption rates. Another difference exists regarding the metabolizing process of alcohol between men and women. This difference can be traced to the comparatively small amounts of an enzyme named gastric alcohol dehydrogenase. This enzyme helps break down the alcohol in the stomach prior to absorption which helps decrease a person’s level of intoxication. Because women do not have as much of this enzyme, their level of intoxication will be higher than men, even when weight is accounted for in the comparison. When taking this information into consideration, one can see that there is a slight disadvantage among women and alcohol. Using this knowledge, one can infer that women have a greater chance of reaching the legal limit of intoxication with fewer amounts of alcohol then men. This may help to distinguish disparities that may exist among women regarding DUI laws.
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