Anthropologists Ask Spanish Women Why They Smoke
World Health Organization statistics released this week project one billion people will die as a result of tobacco use during this century if smoking rates are not significantly reduced.
Cancer and other health risks associated with tobacco use are widely publicized so why do so many people continue to pick up the habit?
A study conducted by University of Granada anthropologists is providing some answers to that difficult question for one population group: Spanish women.
Granada’s research indicates tobacco use among Spanish women is increasingly common because it’s become more socially acceptable in Spanish cultures and smoking provides the women with social and emotional advantages they desire — especially during their interactions with men.
Using in-depth personal interviews, field observation, discussion groups and advertising analysis, the study focused on the specific role smoking played in the daily lives of Spanish women. The investigation revealed the women were using cigarettes as a tool to reduce anxiety, control their body weight, and to get closer to men. They were also relying on smoking to convey an image of power and strength in situations where they felt they were being dominated.
In the past, many Spanish societies considered smoking a privilege to be enjoyed only by men, but that perception has changed over the last 50 years. Now cigarettes are readily available to Spanish women in many educational, work, social, leisure, and family settings, so they’re routinely turning to them to relax. They’re also using them as an easy way to come in contact with men or get their attention. As one anthropologist explained,
“Smoking has become compatible with the social demands imposed upon women. Cigarettes are used by women in order to relax, to avoid gaining weight, and to appear attractive, mature and feminine. It even helps them to pick up men.”
The research also noted that these women started using tobacco with a specific product, industrially produced cigarettes made from Virginia tobacco. Jiminez Rodrigo attributes this exclusivity to tobacco company influences which made cigarettes more pharmacologically and socially acceptable to females than darker tobaccos, cigars or pipes.
Results of the University of Granada research are published in the Spanish journal Liberaddictus and were presented at the Ninth Spanish Conference on Sociology.
Source: AlphaGalileo.org
Related Links: EurekAlert.org; ABC News; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; American Lung Association
Related Podcasts: Teen Smoking Rates at a Standstill from NPR
Technorati Tags: Hispanic health; nicotine addiction; cancer prevention; minority health; lung cancer; women’s health; epidemiology; COPD
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