Female Cannabis Users and New Masculinities: The Gendering of Cannabis Use

Cannabis is sometimes associated with feminine or gender neutral values. Still, most cannabis users are male, and in our data cannabis use is associated with masculinity. In qualitative interviews with 19 female users and a larger sample of male users in Norway, four aspects of cannabis using practices were described as feminine: not providing cannabis, being less involved in cannabis user networks, not handling the drug effects and being concerned about control. Some women challenged gendered expectations and presented themselves as alternative, tough and rebellious through cannabis use. We explore how women navigate through a gendered drug culture, and study how femininities and masculinities are enacted, challenged and recast in a Scandinavian context characterized by gender equality and an anti-drugs culture. We argue that a new egalitarian form of masculinity is getting increasingly important. Still, female users often end up enacting traditional femininities when using cannabis.