A Brief History
On November 6, 2017, we follow up our article from yesterday about Presidents of the US and their smoking habits with an answer to a reader query about the status of women vis a vis smoking through the years. At the end of the article we list some of our sources, and we would particularly like to recommend the bottom web site as a “must read” article for any woman or girl that smokes or is considering taking up the habit.
Digging Deeper
Historically, women have smoked less than men, but certainly not to the point of being unusual to find women smoking. Some of the First Ladies of the United States have been smokers, even pipe smokers! (Mrs. Andrew Jackson, Dolly Madison and Mrs. Zachary Taylor to name 3, although Jackson died before her husband took office.) In more recent years, Eleanor Roosevelt, Mamie Eisenhower, Jacqueline Kennedy, Patricia Nixon and Laura Bush are said to have been smokers (of cigarettes). Bess Truman is alleged to have been a smoker even though her husband was not. Many of these ladies kept their smoking away from public view. Alice Roosevelt, the daughter of President Theodore Roosevelt, is reputed to have been a public heavy smoker, so much so that she did radio ads for Lucky Strike cigarettes! Also, the cigarette holder FDR was famous for was a gift from his cousin, Alice.
As you can tell by Hollywood movies, there did not used to be much of a social taboo against women smoking, although the Victorian era may have been somewhat of an exception. Today, only about 14% of American women smoke (compared to 18.6% for men), but back in 2013 those numbers were 15.8% for American women and 20.8% for American men, showing how quickly the numbers are decreasing. Going farther back, to 1908, New York had a law against women smoking in public. Not until the 1920’s did it become more common for women to smoke in public. Statistics were not kept prior to 1935, and even then the methodology was flawed, with urban women surveyed and rural women ignored. The 1935 survey found 265 of American women under 40 years old smoked, while only 9% of those women over 40 years old reported being smokers. World War II saw an increase in women smoking, with 36% in 1944 and 33% in 1949, according to Gallup. Other surveys polled even higher numbers. Smoking among American women increased until peaking around the mid 1960’s at around 35%, and then started the long, slow decrease, reaching about 22% in 1998 and far less today. Perhaps the Surgeon General’s warning on cigarette packs (1965) and the anti-smoking ad campaigns have helped reduce smoking among Americans.
The numbers of women smokers in Europe exceed those in the US (20 to 40%) and in Greenland and Iceland the percentage of women that smoke is a world topping 40+%.
Since the Surgeon General of the United States first reported authoritatively that smoking is harmful to health in 1964, the baloney arguments from tobacco companies that no “proof” existed that smoking actually causes cancer and other ailments has been discredited repeatedly. Smoking causes birth defects, cancer (including lung, throat and mouth), other lung problems, high blood pressure and a jillion other health problems. Smoking also causes automobile accidents, with smoking proven to be even more dangerous to drivers than using a cell phone! Burning down buildings, sometimes with the smoker in it is not uncommon, nor is burning holes in clothes and upholstery. Cigarette litter is an eyesore all over as well. Believe what you will, but scientists pretty much agree that second hand smoke is harmful as well. Now that American women (and men) are getting the clue of just how bad smoking is for you (and ludicrously expensive, with prohibitive taxation, too), fewer and fewer women smoke. About 64% of women and men both report that they will not date a smoker, let alone marry one.
Education, restrictive smoking laws/smoke free public places, high taxes and perhaps even common sense is keeping women from smoking as much. Now if women would only put down those damn Vapor Electronic Cigarettes! (Another story for another day, perhaps!)
Question for students (and subscribers): Do you find smoking unattractive? Please let us know in the comments section below this article.
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Historical Evidence
See some of our sources below for eye opening information about smoking and women.
- Jimmy Hafrey, “10 Reasons Why Guys Hate Girls Who Smoke”, http://www.churnmag.com/features/10-reasons-why-guys-hate-girls-who-smoke/
- “11 Harmful Effects of Smoking on Women’s Health”, https://women.smokefree.gov/11-harmful-effects-of-smoking-on-women%E2%80%99s-health.aspx
- Candice Jalili, “Do Guys Like Smokers? Survey Finds Smoking Is A Turn-Off”, https://www.elitedaily.com/dating/smoking-cigarettes-deal-breaker/2002511
- Jane E. Brody, “Smoking’s Gender Gap Closes”, https://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/02/18/women-smokers-catch-up/
For more information, please see…
Carr, Allen, Jane Collingwood, et al. Allen Carr’s Finally Free!: The Easy Way to Stop Smoking for Women. Arcturus Publishing Ltd, 2013.
The featured image in this article, a map of no smoking laws in the US, is a work of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, part of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, taken or made as part of an employee’s official duties. As a work of the U.S. federal government, the image is in the public domain.
