Manhood lost

"In fiction, drama, poems, and pamphlets, nineteenth-century reformers told and retold the familiar tale of the decent young man who fell victim to demon rum: Robbed of his manhood by his first drink, he slid inexorably into an abyss of despair and depravity. In its discounting of the importance of free will, argues Elaine Frantz Parsons, this story led to increased emphasis on environmental influences as root causes of drunkenness, poverty, and moral corruption - thus inadvertently opening the door to state intervention in the form of Prohibition." "Parsons also identifies the emergence of a…