Groucho, the comment about it being white protestant middle class men was related to how AA was formed, only one woman at that time apparently.
Carol, I agree - if it works then do it :0)
The author is pointing out how society views female and male alcoholics in different ways and how the women are way more vulnerable to rape and violence and social judgement than the average male is. I've just picked the book up from the library. If I find any cool bits of info I'll post them in this thread.