Opinion about female smoking

[neeraj p kumar]

Hello all,

I am from a conservative family .these female smokers bother me very much and i am unable to forget about them.

How many women in your office smoke?? or can any one give how much the prevalent the smoking is particularly in India.
People from other countries share your opinion as well.

[Bear Bibeault]

Why focus on females? Do you think it's ok for men to smoke but not women?

[Maneesh Godbole]

Yeah. I know.
The other day I actually saw a woman reading!
Women! Education! How shocking!

[neeraj p kumar]

Why focus on females? Do you think it's ok for men to smoke but not women?

definitely not okay, but here in india it is relatively new trend and in rural parts it is considered as a taboo even.

The other day I actually saw a woman reading!
Women! Education! How shocking!

So you say that reading and smoking are similar.
BTW, Do you welcome your wife/daughter to smoke. No offense.

[Jesper de Jong]

neeraj p kumar wrote:BTW, Do you welcome your wife/daughter to smoke. No offense.

Again, why are you specifically asking about women? Why don't you ask what we think about our son / husband smoking?

[Ogeh Ikem]

It can be quite hard accepting a new trend (especially when you are conservative and will like nothing more than to preserve long-held traditions). But it's time to move into the 21st century and realize that whatever men can do, women can do also (especially when they're not being oppressed). It's important to realize that women are human too, with similar needs to men. Women can gamble, play poker, hangout at the bar, chase men, raise a family single-handedly, wear their hair long or short, drink and smoke, just like men can.

[Ernest Friedman-Hill]

Neeraj --

You'll probably find loads of people here who think smoking is bad. But you'll find a much smaller number who think it makes any difference whether the smoker is a man or a woman. Folks who think it makes a difference are going to be laughed at, for the most part -- that's what you're seeing here. Best accept that change is here to stay.

Now, if you just want to talk about how smoking itself is bad -- sure, let's do that. Why people will pay obscene amounts of money to burn and inhale little tubes of dirt and chemicals, polluting the air and killing themselves in the process, is utterly beyond me. It was one thing in the 17th century when nobody knew about cancer (or lived long enough to get it, for that matter). But in 2011, you truly have to be a special brand of ignorant to continue this vile, idiotic practice.

By the way, y'ever notice how ex-smokers are the most virulent anti-smoking campaigners?

[Ogeh Ikem]

Ernest Friedman-Hill wrote:Why people will pay obscene amounts of money to burn and inhale little tubes of dirt and chemicals, polluting the air and killing themselves in the process, is utterly beyond me.

That's a good question.

I think that it's the human condition. Humans need to find a way to lessen the stress of living. Unfortunately, cigarettes, alcohol and similar mind-altering drugs are pretty effective at accomplishing this objective (at least temporarily), and so for most people, it's easier to see the merits of smoking and turn a blind eye to the horrible demerits like permanent lung damage. IMHO, I think that life coping skills should be taught in school.

[neeraj p kumar]

Ernest wrote:
Folks who think it makes a difference are going to be laughed at, for the most part -- that's what you're seeing here. Best accept that change is here to stay.

Very true.

I want to accept the change but i could not.being a pure ocd patient, it is very hard for me.

Can someone provide me heuristics about how much percentage of women smoke in your locality or office etc??

[Ernest Friedman-Hill]

In the US, overall, about 20% of men and 15% of women smoke. For engineers (the closest I could find to "software developers") it's 13% for men, and 11% for women -- pretty close. Of course, many places in the US have banned smoking in office buildings, so you don't see even these few people smoking unless you go looking for it.

I understand that for other countries the figures are somewhat higher or lower.

[Maneesh Godbole]

neeraj p kumar wrote:
definitely not okay, but here in india it is relatively new trend and in rural parts it is considered as a taboo even.

I am not sure you have this correct. When I was young, I used to trek a lot. It was quite common in the rural India I have seen, to come across ladies chewing tobacco, and even some puffing on beedies. Of course the puffers were always outnumbered by the spitters.

neeraj p kumar wrote:
BTW, Do you welcome your wife/daughter to smoke. No offense.

So you mean to say, just because I am a man and they are women, they should await my approval to smoke?

neeraj p kumar wrote:
Can someone provide me heuristics about how much percentage of women smoke in your locality or office etc??

42

[Deepak Bala]

Ogeh Ikem wrote:

Ernest Friedman-Hill wrote:Why people will pay obscene amounts of money to burn and inhale little tubes of dirt and chemicals, polluting the air and killing themselves in the process, is utterly beyond me.

That's a good question.

I think that it's the human condition. Humans need to find a way to lessen the stress of living. Unfortunately, cigarettes, alcohol and similar mind-altering drugs are pretty effective at accomplishing this objective (at least temporarily), and so for most people, it's easier to see the merits of smoking and turn a blind eye to the horrible demerits like permanent lung damage. IMHO, I think that life coping skills should be taught in school.

I would also attribute it to the "cool" factor.

A dude I worked with would boast about how he would smoke and drink anything he could get his hands on. He would try to condescend anyone that does not smoke / drink. It failed to worked on me though. I always replied with 'Why do you inhale things that cause cancer and drink things that destroy the connection between brain cells ?'. Never got a logical answer to that question.

[Deepak Bala]

neeraj , like EFH points out, some folks might find it repulsive that this question is being asked. Its may not necessarily be your fault. It probably has to do with the way you were brought up, where women lead a conservative life.

I welcome your renewed attitude towards this and I hope you seek to broaden your mind over the same. Good luck with that

[Devesh H Rao]

Maneesh Godbole wrote:
42

That answers it all. Nuf said.

[neeraj p kumar]

Thank you Ernest,Ogeh Ikem and Deepak for the kind words.

Maneesh Godbole wrote:

neeraj p kumar wrote:
BTW, Do you welcome your wife/daughter to smoke. No offense.

So you mean to say, just because I am a man and they are women, they should await my approval to smoke?

I will take it as yes.

[fred rosenberger]

I can understand why people CONTINUE to smoke. Nicotine is an addictive substance - I think that is fairly well documented.

What I don't understand is why anyone would START smoking. For the life of me, I cannot understand why tobacco would be anything more than the current generation's problem. The 'older' folks would eventually die off, and since no new smokers would be coming in, the problem would take care of itself.

However, for reasons that make no sense at all to me, people continue to start smoking.

wtf?

[Ogeh Ikem]

fred rosenberger wrote:I can understand why people CONTINUE to smoke. What I don't understand is why anyone would START smoking.

1) Peer pressure - It's easy to start smoking when your friends are doing it.
2) Parents - Many parents smoke at home right in front of their kids and we know how impressionable kids are.
3) Movies - The message that some movies convey is that smoking not only makes you look cool; it also makes you look sophisticated.
4) Adventurous personality - Some people love to throw caution to the wind. They are compelled to try everything at least once. Unfortunately, if you try smoking once it's very likely that you'll try it again and again and again.

[Campbell Ritchie]

Ogeh Ikem wrote: . . . 2) Parents - Many parents smoke at home right in front of their kids and we know how impressionable kids are. . . .

Many parents try to put the children off smoking in such a way as to make it appear attractive, or to cause rebellion.
5: Advertising. Despite legal restrictions, advertisers are much more sophisticated at getting their message across than the average punter (particularly children) are at understanding the intent behind the message. Same reason many people spend lots and lots on credit cards; the chairman of Barclay's Bank is reported as having said he would never advise his friends to take out a Barclaycard.

I think peer pressure is a very important factor.
Not sure about the figures, but I think in this part of the country about one-third of the population smoke. A lot of women and girls do. If I go to London, I am surprised by the age-distribution of smokers; so many of them are young.

[Rahul Sudip Bose]

neeraj p kumar wrote:
I am unable to forget about them.

Forget them. There are lot of wrong things that you might not be able to change or influence for the better. Dont lose your sleep over it.
There is a POPULAR song from the salman khan movie "Ready". Find out which song it is. That might alter your perspective.

[Thakur Sachin Singh]

wow great discussion on this topic. but i am not happy if woman do smoking. this is not the Indian culture.

[Sridhar Santhanakrishnan]

Campbell Ritchie wrote:Not sure about the figures, but I think in this part of the country about one-third of the population smoke. A lot of women and girls do. If I go to London, I am surprised by the age-distribution of smokers; so many of them are young.

Agree, I have had kids walk up to me at ASDA asking for a smoke. Some of them couldnt have been more than 10 or 11.

[Campbell Ritchie]

By young I meant <30. But there are lots of schoolkids smoking round here, too.

When I was young it was more like 90% of the adult population who smoked.

[Ulf Dittmer]

Thakur Sachin Singh wrote:this is not the Indian culture.

Cultures change over time, everywhere. Anyone who can't (or won't) accept that is going to be miserable, yet unable to do much about it.

[Sridhar Santhanakrishnan]

Campbell Ritchie wrote:By young I meant <30. But there are lots of schoolkids smoking round here, too.

When I was young it was more like 90% of the adult population who smoked.

Very relative I guess, the word 'young'