And on days when the company holds its marathon board game tournaments, a beer often turns into three.
Drinking has long been part of work culture, from Madison Avenues storied bar carts to Silicon Valleys keggers.
Overall, men still drink more, guzzling just over six drinks per week to womens two.
Another study found that 15 percent of women binge-drank in 2013more than double what it was in 1993.
But happy hour can also break down gender and hierarchy in a way that offers rare access to higher-ups.
She and other junior staffers would often flock to congressional parties for free food and libations.
Unlike in Congress, both Democratic and Republicans would come together civilly.
It really helped me get to know this world.
The risk of overdoing it is a real one, she says.
Its instant loss of credibility.
Beyond the social costs, alcohol can have health implications for women.
Drinking can also impede exercise performance and slow recovery after workouts.
And theres a reason women are called lightweights.
a medical project officer with the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.
The risk for breast cancer also increases with each additional drink a woman has per day.
Its believed that alcohol may disrupt the delicate balance critical to maintaining human female reproductive hormonal cycles.
Treating stress with booze can also be damaging.
The alcoholic is one who has lost the ability to control.
First-wave feminists struggled to eliminate social stigma for women who drank at all.
The latest challenge is finding a comfortable place of moderation in todays high-pressured drinking culture.
The strong taste makes it hard to drink quicklyand, like Guinness, seems to elicit a thumbs-up.
It makes me look like a badass, and I can function the next day, she says.
Whats not always an option for most is staying home.
I want to be able to hang, and I want to be taken seriously, Anne S. says.
Deidra Roach, M.D.
