Tag: Alcohol

  • The Blue Ribbon Collective

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    The Blue Ribbon Collective

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    Blue ribbons tied with a safety pinTowards the start of Knutepunkt 2017 in Norway, we organized a workshop, High on KP, for people who were interested in avoiding or limiting their drinking of alcohol during the conference. The reasons for this choice were varied; perhaps they were drawn to using drink as a social enabler, or they felt social pressure to drink.

    This attracted a good mix of people. Some interesting personal stories and strategies were shared. We were also joined, and went on to be approached later, by a number of people who didn’t drink at all themselves but who wanted to help and support those who were avoiding alcohol.

    The project was informed in part by our related work on alcohol at larp and at larp-related social events, and the problems that can sometimes arise from it. It became apparent from responses to our survey that social pressure making people drink more than they were comfortable with was one of the factors causing adverse incidents.

    Two men display the blue ribbons pinned to their badges
    Members of the Blue Ribbon Collective at Knutepunkt 2017.

    As part of the project, we introduced the blue ribbon badge. This symbol is a light-hearted homage to the ribbon worn by those who took the temperance pledge in the 19th century, although our aims for it are rather different. This is what we intend wearing a blue ribbon to signify:

    1. I am sober;
    2. If you would like to stay sober, or to drink no more than you have done already, I can support you in that resolve.

    We anticipate offering blue ribbons and running workshops at future KPs – if organizers are happy with that. And we would be glad to see them being used at other social events where alcohol is generally part of the social structure. They’re not official emblems and don’t have anything special about them; any length of blue ribbon, held by a safety-pin, will send the same message.

    Finally, we should add – to avoid potential misunderstanding – that this project is absolutely not about trying to discourage people from drinking, or to shame drinkers, or to reduce the amount of alcohol at KP. It is simply meant to help people who don’t want to drink, or who don’t want to drink too much.

    The Blue Ribbon Collective

    Blue ribbons tied with a safety pinMoving forward, we are developing a Blue Ribbon Collective of participants who are interested in staying sober at events and helping others with alcohol-related issues. Anyone can be a part of the Collective: that just signifies being aware and supportive of our work. Then if someone chooses to wear a blue ribbon pinned to their clothing at a particular larp event, that signals their sobriety (at that event) to others. Being part of the Collective does not mean you should feel under any pressure to stay sober, or to wear the ribbon. Feel free to contact us if you would like to be included on the list.

    Current members of the Blue Ribbon Collective:

    Frederik Vindal Andersson

    Johannes Axner

    Sarah Lynne Bowman

    Banana Chan

    Jon Cole

    Liz Gorinksy

    Harrison Greene

    Charlie Haldén

    Sanne Harder

    Cleo Hatting

    Mo Holkar

    Kjell Hedgard Hugaas

    Torgrim Husvik

    Antti Kumpulainen

    Janusz Maxe

    Morgan Nuncio

    Stephanie Nudelman

    Tuomas Puikkonen

    Tadeu Rodrigues

    Pedro Rodríguez Marín

    Francesco Rugerfred Sedda

    Liv Kristine Slyngborg

    Susanne Vejdemo

    Melissa Whitlock

    Mila Ould Yahoui

    If you’re interested in the blue ribbon, or in the project generally, or would like to help in future, please get in touch!

    (Edited on 6th March 2019 to clarify details of the Blue Ribbon Collective.)


    Cover photo: A blue ribbon pinned to the lapel of a black leather jacket. Photo by Sarah Lynne Bowman.

     

  • High on Larp: Alcohol at Larp Events

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    High on Larp: Alcohol at Larp Events

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    In January 2017, Mila Ould Yahoui, Sarah Lynne Bowman, and I conducted an online survey about experiences with and attitudes towards alcohol at larps and at larp-related social events. The survey link was shared in various Facebook larping groups and it gained just over a thousand responses.

    This survey was not a representative or weighted sample, and it makes no claims to be scientific. Responders were self-selecting and might be assumed to have some interest in the topic of alcohol, either to support its use or to express concern about negative alcohol-related incidents. Even so, we feel that some of the findings are of interest and we hope they may stimulate discussion.

    Demographics

    Rather than asking which country responders came from, we asked which country they did most of their larping in. We felt that, with the increasing internationalization of the hobby, this question would be a more reliable indicator of a responder’s “larping culture.”

    pie chart showing a variety of countries

     

    The results showed considerable variation between countries. For example, the likelihood of having often or sometimes consumed alcohol at larp varied from 30% in the USA to 47% in Poland.

    Responders’ ages ranged from 13 to 63, but over 80% were in the 21-40 range.

    Pie chart of age ranges of respondents

    Frequency

    We asked a series of radio-button questions about frequency of various experiences with alcohol. Responders could answer Often, Sometimes, Rarely, or Never.

    • Have you larped while under the influence of alcohol?
    • Have you larped with other people who were under the influence of alcohol?
    • Have you been under the influence of alcohol at larp-related social events?
    • Have you been at larp-related social events while other people were under the influence of alcohol?
    graphs of alcohol use
    Participant experiences with alcohol use at larps and larp-related events.

    Experiences

    We asked two free-text questions about responders’ experiences:

    • “Have you done anything that you regretted (at the time, or later) while you were, or other people were, under the influence of alcohol at a larp or at a larp-related social event?” and
    • “Has anything been done to you that you wish had not been done, while you were, or other people were, under the influence of alcohol at a larp or at a larp-related social event?”

    24% and 29% of responses respectively were affirmative. As responses were given confidentially, we won’t quote from any of them here, but these are the types of experiences that were listed:

    • Examples of things that people regret:
      • Nausea; hangover; oversleeping; losing possessions and clothing; injuries to self; loss of memory; loss of focus on the game.
      • Inappropriate talking in-game; being offensive; bad moods; fighting.
      • Transgressing personal boundaries; inappropriate flirting/kissing/etc.; inappropriate sex; infidelity.
      • Several people mentioned drinking as a social facilitator or because of social pressure.
    • Examples of things done to people that they wish hadn’t been done:
      • OOC talking and action that harmed immersion; injury from another’s “playful” behaviour; drinking culture detracting from larping; boredom from drunken ramblings; rowdiness.
      • Homophobia; sober-shaming; insults; psychological abuse.
      • Being vomited upon; suffering violence.
      • Sexual harassment; had sexual photos taken with and without consent; sexual assault; rape.
      • Several people mentioned tens of such incidents. Some spoke of pressure to drink and of how once alcohol is present and open, it can take over the event.

    Many people said in their responses that the problems they’d experienced with alcohol weren’t particular to larp – that the same things could happen at any other party, etc. This detail makes the point that we can’t assume that larp is a safe bubble outside of society, where we are with our own tribe, and where bad things aren’t going to happen. Alcohol may not be in itself problematic, but a lot of people consume it in a problematic way, and so, trouble can be caused.

    Some respondents said that at their events, players knew how to drink responsibly, and so there were no difficulties. Which is great – but we have to recognize that at many larps, and at many social gatherings – including KP, where a number of responders reported having experienced assaults – that is not always the case. Also, just because an organizer has not received a report about an incident does not mean no incident occurred. Indeed, people may feel uncomfortable reporting incidents for various reasons, including fear of reprisal, shame, or ostracization.

    In Favour of Alcohol?

    Mo propping up the bar at the 2014 larp Café Casablanca. Photo by Charlie Paull.

    Finally we asked whether respondents were in favour of allowing alcohol at larps (60% said Yes) and at larp-related social events (92% said Yes).

    We did not ask about positive outcomes from the presence of alcohol, which gives a skew to the survey data. In the subsequent presentation at Knutepunkt 2017, we sought additional responses about positive experiences from participants in the session. People mentioned that alcohol can provide a pleasant social atmosphere; that it can help people relax; that it can add to realism of larping characters who are drinking alcohol; and that it can help shy people perform socially.

    To conclude: this survey and presentation are not part of a campaign to ban alcohol from larp, or from larp-related social events. However, we do feel that it demonstrates that real and measurable adverse effects can and do occur. It’s important for us all to be aware of the potential downsides and risks that alcohol can bring with it. We hope that this work will contribute to opening up a discussion around these topics.

    The Blue Ribbon Collective

    Moving forward, we are developing a Blue Ribbon Collective of participants who are interested in staying sober at events and helping others with alcohol-related issues. Members of the Collective may choose to wear a blue ribbon pinned to their clothing at larp events to signal their sobriety to others. Feel free to contact us if you would like to be included on the list.

    Current members of the Blue Ribbon Collective:


    Johannes Axner
    Sarah Lynne Bowman
    Banana Chan
    Jon Cole
    Liz Gorinksy
    Harrison Greene
    Charlie Haldén
    Sanne Harder
    Cleo Hatting
    Mo Holkar
    Kjell Hedgard Hugaas
    Torgrim Husvik
    Antti Kumpulainen
    Janusz Maxe
    Morgan Nuncio
    Stephanie Nudelman
    Tadeu Rodrigues
    Francesco Rugerfred Sedda
    Liv Kristine Slyngborg
    Susanne Vejdemo
    Melissa Whitlock
    Mila Ould Yahoui


    Cover photo: Cocktail Poured into Orrefors Balans Glass by Didriks on Flickr. Image has been cropped. CC BY 2.0.