Kuwait Times

Published Date: September 20, 2007
By Shamael Al-Sharikh, Staff columnist

Smoking is considered unfeminine in Kuwait. In fact, it is also considered un-Arab. The stereotype of women smokers in the 1960s and 1970s in Kuwait is that they are either Kuwaitis of non-Arab heritage or women educated in the West. Obviously, smoking is not considered a lovely habit for men to have either, but as with everything in the double standards-loving Gulf region, men can get away with much more than women can.

Nowadays, smoking is considered passé for everyone, and yet we are witnessing more female Kuwaiti smokers than ever. Whereas Kuwaiti women used to smoke behind closed doors, now they are doing it at work, in the car, at the café, and just about everywhere else.

Some traditionalist fools blame this on women's liberation, just like they blame the rest of our social problems on it. Others blame the negative influence of the West. I personally think it is a little bit of both, coupled with the signs of the changing times.

Stereotypes of proper male and female behavior have changed so much that traditions seem archaic. Not many people abide by gender roles anymore. Everyone knows a few cases of Kuwaiti women who go to work while their husbands stay at home, which is not an outcry but a shrieking scream against our traditions.

Everyone also knows girls who ride motorcycles and boys who love to cook and the list goes on. Similarly, it is acceptable that a man refuses to smoke while a woman breaks away from conventional wisdom and smokes in public.
Or is it?!

To tell you the truth, I am not a smoker. It stinks up my hair and my clothes and it makes my eyes water. I am also health conscientious and try to steer away from anything that is scientifically-proven to damage my wellbeing. Neither my parents nor my close friends are smokers, so it was never a hard thing for me not to smoke. I just did not need all that convincing, and for that, I consider myself lucky.

Other women are not so lucky. Smoking to them, mistakenly, means a sign of showing character, or perhaps even temerity. Unfortunately for them, it would have been so much better if they had just stuck to traditional gender roles regarding smoking, than picking up a bad habit that damages their health as well as appearance.

I read an article on www.bbcnews.com that stated that women smokers are more likely to develop acne than those who don't. Research conducted in Italy by the San Gallicano Dermatological Institute claimed that Non-Inflammatory Acne (NIA) is now to be added to an already long list of smoking-related diseases, such lung cancer and heart disease. Smokers' acne was also found to affect women smokers more than men, which is ironic, because while some female smokers mistakenly think that it is a show of character
, they in turn end up harming themselves more than a male smoker.

I do not support conventional wisdom and I do not believe that one should follow the footsteps of our elders blindly. I am a big believer in change as an engine of development and progress, but smoking for Kuwaiti women is neither the former nor the latter. It is just a bad, stinky, unhealthy, and unattractive habit.
If a Kuwaiti woman is cursed with being unable to quit smoking, she is not promoting women's liberation or equality; she is just making herself look bad. What is it all for? That light buzz from the slow breathing? The chance to mimic those forties Hollywood sirens puffing smoke in the air? It is just not worth it.

Women's health is infinitely more important than the temporary joy of smoking. I may not be one for traditions, but the idea that smoking makes a young lady look bad is one tradition we should most definitely uphold.

Email: Shamael@kuwaittimes.net