“Don’t judge a book by its cover” – a proverb that warns our society to be less judgemental about different choices people make especially when it concerns the women of our society. Ideally, every woman is expected to have a lifestyle our ancestors have led. But times have changed now. Women today make their own choices and have become independent. Amongst a number of choices, smoking cigarettes have been adopted by a large number of young girls and women for many reasons such as peer pressure or social status or it’s just a personal choice. But for whatever reasons she indulges into smoking, she prefers not to smoke publicly as she is insanely judged as a woman of questionable character. How the heck on earth character comes into play by smoking cigarettes! It is really unrelated. Oh! It is a female or a woman that is smoking and not a man. But why rules for her? Why rules for even anybody?
We talk about being modern and open-minded but is our society really open to accepting the western culture?? Somehow, our culture and ethics have not evolved at all. As soon as a woman is seeing hanging out with boys or seen lighting a cigarette, several eyes start judging her. Is this hypocrisy really required? Can’t she just be with her friends and have a good time with them? That is her life and she has every right to live it the way she wants. For God’s sake, she’s trying to be happy and at what cost, for just sick and low-lying opinions which she really does not need and moreover has not even asked for it.
Back then when cigarettes were invented in the 19th century, few women who smoked cigarettes were taken up in the custody by police. She was considered to be breaking law. It was a long fight that women had to fight only to smoke openly and be acceptable. The cigarette producing companies thought it as an opportunity to become richer by targeting the large female market. Believe me when I say that Marlboro, a brand that is now a macho brand, was advertised as women’s cigarettes for the first time. After several years, in 1972, a company named Lucky Strike branded their campaign slogan ‘Reach for a Lucky instead of a sweet’ aimed for women and then that ad campaign made a big difference. Of course, even movies had a good impact and women smoking openly became acceptable. We all agree that smoking is a harmful habit yet a larger percentage of people in every country smoke and it is their personal choice. It would be a better place to live in where people respect other people’s choices and not be judgmental.
Well, it’s just simple, people should mind their own businesses and let others live their lives on their choices and rules.
It’s articles like this that remind me of the freedoms and liberties that I take for granted as an American woman. I’m 58 and my husband is 24. Our age difference along would get us booted if we lived in India. Being that I’m a heavy smoker would be adding fuel to the fire of hate. My husband is not a smoker, and he’s not embarrassed by my habit or my age. He respects me as both a woman and a smoker. He lights my cigarettes in public. His mother is also a smoker, so I feel comfortable smoking in front of his family. Yes, it’s a bad habit, but it doesn’t make me a bad person.