It is not even slightly weird. Consumption of alcohol by women has always been frowned upon, especially in public houses, not least by women, and survives today in the shaming of pregnant women who drink even the smallest drop of alcohol at any stage of pregnancy. Women were prominent campaigners against consumption of alcohol, especially in the USA, e.g. Woman's Christian Temperance Union, leading to temperance laws in several US states and ultimately the Eighteenth Amendment of the US national constitution which launched the notorious Prohibition Era.

Also, even past the middle of the twentieth century, in the UK and Australia at least, it was normal for there to be a separate "public" bar" in pubs for men only and a "ladies bar" or "saloon bar" where women were permitted entry.