Hedonistic women behaving very badly

By BRIDGET CARTER

They go out when they want, they drink as much as they feel like and they stay out until 4 am because they are free to do so.

No, we are not talking about twentysomethings - we are talking about women in their 30s who are determined to enter middle age disgracefully.

A British study has shown that record numbers of women aged from 30 to 45 are smoking and drinking heavily and doing no exercise, and their numbers are increasing faster than in any other age group.

The survey, coordinated by British researcher Clare Smith for market analysts Mintel, said "ladettes" were staying single well into their 30s, prolonging their "live-for-today lifestyle."

"We are the late-60s generation, the first generation of women who have freedom," said one fun-loving thirtysomething.

These women have the money to do what they want. And they also exist in New Zealand.

Just ask Kevin Fraser, owner of Lime bar in Ponsonby and the Hobson St Lounge in central Auckland. Fun-loving career women are the target market for both venues.

At 7 pm on a Thursday night the Hobson St Lounge was full of them - they started early, said manager Greg Allen.

"The older bracket" came in on Friday nights, but also through the week, especially after work, he said. They were dressed up and were "definitely professionals."

But their biggest giveaway, he said, was what they drank - either good wine or cocktails.

And did they drink a lot? "Sure, they get tipsy," he said. "They have been there, done that and have nothing to prove. They know how to have a good time and do it pleasantly."

The Herald found the New Zealand experience was more moderate than that in Britain. But experts said the trend was the same in both countries.

Alcohol Healthwatch spokesman Roger Eccles said the "ladette" profile was familiar.

While there may not be New Zealand statistics on the phenomenon, a sample survey of New Zealanders' drug use showed an 11 per cent increase between 1990 and 1998 in the number of women drinkers who felt drunk at least once a month

Maureen Baker, head of sociology at Auckland University, said more women were entering the workforce and the average age of marriage was higher.

"Maybe they go out and smoke and drink more."

In her study, Clare Smith said there was a sharp increase in "bad behaviour" among thirtysomething women. The proportion of women who drank more than once a week had increased by almost 9 per cent in the past decade - 2 per cent more than the average for all women.

Women aged between 30 and 45 were now more likely than those in any other age group to drink more than once a week. They also "binge drank" more than ever - cramming more than 10 units of alcohol into one or two nights.

Wealthier women drank more than the less well-off, and the most popular drink was wine, which was often drunk at home rather than in pubs or bars.

On one side of the phenomenon was a new group of women who were single or divorced, were fed up that they could not find a partner, or had just left one and were saying "to hell with the whole thing," rewarding themselves with things they enjoyed, including alcohol and cigarettes, she said. It's the Bridget Jones syndrome.

On the other side were married women, for whom the pressure of work and home life was growing all the time. They were struggling to live up to media icons such as the domestic goddess who has a top career and a home life. In a time-starved world, booze and fags were a way of dealing with the troubles of the day.

One 35-year-old woman, who would not be named, is all too familiar with the thirtysomething scene.

The Hobson St Lounge is often her last stop on a big night out, but still only one of the many.

She is single, runs her own public relations business and said she would go out on the town three or four nights a week. Sometimes her night does not finish until the early hours of the next day - 4 am in fact.

This lady is fun-loving. "I am a really social person," she said.

She said her job was very stressful and alcohol was one way she could unwind.

But the intention of a night on the town was not to meet a future match, she said. "You know you are not going to meet your future husband at a bar at 3 am."

Women in their 30s wanted to have a good time, she said. They had a disposable income and economic freedom they were never used to.

This woman said she could have married at 28 but chose not to.

"There is so much else to do in the world. We can do what we want to do and have the money to do it. We are the ones making choices. [Being single] ... is a very real choice."

Jane Smith, 32, is also single. "I have taken advantage of being single and make the most of it. I enjoy going out and drinking and no one will stop me. It is fun."

Barbara Derecourt, also 32 and single, said she enjoyed the atmosphere when she had a night on the town.

Her career had been her focus, she said. "It is just the way it has worked out."

Women such as her no longer had the same mentality as they used to, she said. She had been tied to nothing for the past 10 years, and had been on the move for seven of them. "I had the freedom to do that. I am what I am today by choice."