Beer goggles

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Beer goggles is a slang term for a phenomenon in which consumption of alcohol lowers sexual inhibitions to the point that very little or no discretion is used when approaching or choosing sexual partners. The term is often humorously applied when an individual is observed making advances towards, later regretting sexual contact with, a partner that is deemed unattractive, unacceptably scandalous, or repulsive when the prospect of sex is considered while sober. The "beer goggles" are considered to have distorted the "wearer's" vision, making unattractive people appear beautiful, or at least passably attractive. Beer goggles are also known as "Stellavision", "Beerglasses" and "The Cider Visor".

In January 2008, neuroscientists reported a similar physiological effect of alcohol on sexual behaviour in fruitfly. When given a daily dose of ethanol, males fruitflies court male as well as female flies. This observed inter-male courtship requires dopamine transmission between neurons in the brain and is encouraged by repeated alcohol exposure. ^[1]

Meanwhile, a mathematical formula has been devised to model this phenomenon in humans ^[2], sponsored by eyecare firm Bausch and Lomb, although this research has been criticised as having "no scientific merit".^[3]

There have been a number of songs written about this, chiefly Smash Mouth's "Beer Goggles", Lagwagon's "Beer Goggles", Neal McCoy's "Billy's Got His Beer Goggles On" and "She Had No Teeth" by The Rob Beadle Triangle Band. Most instructive is the beer goggles scene in Broken Lizard's 2006 movie Beerfest, where Barry (Jay Chandrasekhar) hits on and later beds Cherry (Mo'Nique); he is so drunk he not only thinks she's great looking, he thinks he is too.

In the animated series The Simpsons, on a trip to a Duff beer-endorsed amusement park Bart Simpson found actual "beer goggles" on sale at a novelty shop; donning them he saw his plain, butchy aunt turned into a pouty, alluring beauty.

On the BBC panel show QI, Stephen Fry was told what beer goggles were by fellow pundit Alan Davies. Phill Jupitus chimed in and suggested that the posh Fry instead develops Madeira pince-nez when inebriated.^[4]

[edit] Education

Some police departments have literal beer goggles, which distort vision to an approximation of drunkenness. These are used in education programs to teach people, often teenagers, about the dangers of drunk driving.