Gender and Arrack Drinking among Muslim,Hindu,Santal,and Oraon Communities in North-Western Villages of Bangladesh

Arrack, indigenously fermented from palm and date juice, is locally known as tari and commonly consumed by socio-culturally lower economic groups of all communities in northwestern villages of Bangladesh. This study examines and compares gender dimensions of arrack drinking pattern in association with respective community religiosity, and socio-cultural and gender statuses among the Muslims, Hindu, Santal, and Oraon drinkers in the Mongaltara, Akkelpur, Sherpur, and Ekrapara villages of Rasulpur Union of Bangladesh. A total of 391 respondents (Muslim, n = 109, Hindu, n = 103, Santal, n = 89, and Oraon, n = 90) with males and females selected by simple random sampling were intensively interviewed singly by semi-structured questionnaire. The results reveal that there are differences in arrack drinking patterns not only in gender norms, but also among the overall communities. It is argued that a respective community's religiosity, gender norms, and drinker's personality and attitude, and socio-cultural pressure and stress directly influence arrack drinking patterns.