This article is part of Dry January, Straight Up, your no-BS guide to cutting out alcohol for 31 days—or longer. SELF will be publishing new articles for this series throughout January.

There’s no harm in telling a little white lie to get your friends off your back. Or, maybe it’s technically true, ... Everyone has a different relationship with alcohol, ...

Women are increasingly abusing alcohol, says Kara Alaimo, who argues society needs to reckon with how it treats women as well as how we talk about alcohol. CNN values your feedback 1.