RESUMO
INTRODUCTION: Female alcoholism is a public health problem for which membership in Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) groups is an effective treatment. As AA is predominantly attended by men in Brazil, the aim of this article is to understand the meaning of this problem and the experience of AA meetings for women. METHODS: A qualitative ethnographic study was conducted between August and September 2019 and included 15 participants of a women-only AA meeting in the city of São Paulo, Brazil. Data were collected by means of direct participant observation, records in field diaries, ethnographic interviews and records of experience sharing between the women during the AA meetings. RESULTS: An intelligible, interpretative and comprehensive synthesis of the data collected resulted in two categories: 'Alcohol, Alcoholism and Gender' and 'What AA means to women'. The first category allowed alcoholism to be analysed as a disease associated with gender asymmetries. The second category permitted an assessment to be made of how women-only AA meetings served to provide alcoholic women with a safe and morally privileged place in which they could share their experiences and treat their addiction. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS: Alcoholism in women is marked by social stigma, making it difficult to find women willing to share their experiences and participate in qualitative research on this important issue in public health. In these women-only meetings, they shared their experiences, and alcoholism is referred to as a 'wounded soul' that causes deep anguish often experienced in the isolation of their own homes.