Please answer the following question as fully as possible.
In
the interviews we heard in class today, Pat told us that his parents
knew that he smoked, but Donna kept her smoking a secret from her
parents as long as she could. Can you think of any reasons for this
difference? In your culture, is it more acceptable for men to smoke
than it is for women? Explain.
In general, almost every men say that when they see a girl smoking, they "turn off", when I ask them why they said it was "gross" because it turned girls' teeth yellow and their breath and clothing smelt badly, in other words, they don't think that see a girl smoking is sexy, smoking changes their image on females, not on males. In my opinion that goes for either sex, it's not only for women, cigarettes can not differentiate sex, and they can cause the same things to men and to women, why they think that is more gross see a women smoking rather that a men? I think it's because they see a woman more delicate and pretty and after a while if they see her careless, they lose that image from her. In my culture there are people who think it's disgusting to see women smoking, but it is becoming increasingly more common to see women smoking.
ReplyDeleteWhy is it becoming more common to see women smoking? I would think the opposite should be true given what we know about the dangers inherent in smoking! Please share your thoughts.
Deletegenerally speaking , women who smoke are always considered as bad persons in the all corners of the world. Women who smoke have often been a subject of critic. in fact, smoking in my country is a serious problem for women. indeed parents are more tolerant with men that women, if they know their daughter smoke she could have lots trouble with his family or be out of house. The problem in my country is: we have lot of respect for the women, with our beliefs and habits , seeing a woman who smoke can be hurtful for most people
ReplyDeleteYou wrote:
Delete"Women who smoke are always considered as bad persons in the all corners of the world."
What do you mean by "bad?"
And if smoking is such a serious problem for women, are you saying that most of the women in your country are "bad" (whatever that means)?
In my opinion , keeping girls under control is much easier than boys. Females are more likely to follow rules and they alwayes perfectionist. Thats why parents usually don't expect to have such a behavior like smoking from a daughter as much as they can predect it from a son . Moreover, I think it is all about what is imprinted in our brains about being "cool" . Also, guys try to grab some attention by smoking ,otherwise girls take care of their bodies and skin in order to be attractive. In my culture , it was forbedden for girls to smoke but now it became a trend. I belive in equality in every thing , so if smoking is not allowed ,it should be boarded for both gender .
ReplyDeleteSuzan,
DeleteYou wrote:
"It was forbedden for girls to smoke but now it became a trend."
Really? Please tell us about it! Are the women all rebelling with this trend?
I'm glad you're an "equal-opportunity ban enforcer!"
yes,it is more acceptable for men to smoke than it is for women in China.
ReplyDeletein most peole's eyes,including me, they believe that if girls are smoking, they are bad girls. because smoking is not good behavior.girls should have their behavior, not inclding the smoking.
most people think the smoking is a cool thing, but not me.
What do you mean when you say they are "bad girls?"
DeleteYou said that most people think smoking is cool. What's the relationship between being cool and being "bad?"
In most cases , people conceive better the fact that men smoke than women smoke..A woman is recommended to have a healthy mind in a healthy body because she represents the family reference..Therefore, in my culture , women who smoke have a bad reputation.They're considered like "Bad Girls",they usually smell bad and people believe that they've already ruin their lives.As a result , most of them are not dated by men .Parents are more tolerant with men than women because they believe that in a family, members won't accept a woman who smoke because she won't be able to carry a pregnancy in good conditions and she won't teach good manners to her child.Whereas men who smoke are considered like stressed people.But it's like sometimes the society criticize them when they get really addicted and spend too much money on buying pack of cigarettes.
ReplyDeleteInteresting.
DeleteYou're the first person to make the connection between women smoking and their fertility or pregnancy.
About the good manners, here is my question. You say its acceptable in Cameroon for the men to smoke. But aren't the fathers also responsible for teaching good manners to the children?
Why do you think it is that men who smoke are considered "stressed" and women who smoke are considered "bad?"
We call this a DOUBLE STANDARD of behavior (one standard for the men' another standard for the women).
1. I think, some of the reason is that men are brave more than women to admit that they're doing something bad or wrong. In addition, we all know most smokers start to smoke when they're under 18 years old. So, girls are afraid to face problems with their parents like stop giving them money or don't allowed them to go out with their friends. However, boys just want to do whatever they like or find it funny no matter what the result is.
ReplyDelete2. Yes, in my culture it's more acceptable for men to smoke than it's for women. When a man smokes people won't say anything because it has been something normal for men to smoke. On the other hand, when people see a woman smokes they'll just get a bad idea of her and even they may put the blame on their parents.
That's an interesting comment about men being brave to smoke while women, I'll infer from your comment, are fearful to do so. To me it sounds like the girls face a consequence for smoking while the boys don't. It has nothing to do with being brave!
DeleteThat's also interesting how the parents might get the blame for their daughter smoking, but not--I'm assuming but correct me if I"m wrong--for their son smoking.
In my culture there is no problem if a women smoke but she will reduce her chances to get a date, because men don't like women who smoke. But when you are a teenager, boys think they look cool or pretend to act like "bad boys" if they are smoking in social events and that behavior is popular among high schools and first years of college/university and some girls like that behavior. I think girls keep the secret of smoking because they know that it's bad for their public image and want to avoid the criticism.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion smoking at early ages is like a rebel behavior it does not matter if you are boy or girl.... It is just stupid
And as we know, there is no cure for stupidity!
DeleteYou wrote:
"I think girls keep the secret of smoking because they know that it's bad for their public image and want to avoid the criticism."
Criticism from whom?
In my culture people have the right to do whatever they want, so for some families it's okay if a kid starts smoking at the age of 15 for example. But the thing is, people don't think it is a right thing that a woman can do because they think women generally like to take care of themselves and like being clean. When a woman starts smoking it usually means she doesnt care about looking good and being clean. That's why women like hidding the fact that they smoke.
ReplyDeleteI'm not going to say its right for men to smoke because it bring many kind of disease but in many cultures it okay to see a man smoking,
So let me get this straight... in your culture (in Congo), its okay for BOYS "to do whatever they want," even smoking at 15, but it is not okay for GIRLS to do it.
DeleteTell me, when a guy starts smoking, does it also mean that he "doesn't care about looking good an being clean?"
I think that what abdul has said is write, our society is very conservative and they can't accept that and still looking to the smoking as a masculine attitude regardless whether if it is right or wrong.
ReplyDeleteokay
DeleteI think the main reason for this difference is the social gender acceptances. Smoking is a bad habit, but usually it's easily acceptable for men and it is not for women. So Pat feels easy to let his parents know but Donna has to keep it confidential.
ReplyDeleteIn my country, people think that smoking men is normal, sometimes "cool", but smoking women is a terrible image. In fact, smoking mother always have a bad impact on the children than smoking father in a family. I think this difference is the result of the sexual segregation.
Sexual segregation means that we physically separate the sexes--boys in one room, girls in another. This is not what you mean here.
DeleteI think the correct term to use here is DOUBLE STANDARD. This means that what's okay for the men is not okay for the women, that we have two different acceptable standards of behavior.
Cultures usually do not accept from women to somke, and this may be comes from the belife that women have to be more resbonsible than men due to her role in the home and her resbonsiblity of rising her children while smoking could be a sighn for reckless person who even does not care for him/her self. In my country in general is not expact from women to smoke even though there are some women who smoke. Also, I notice something in my city, in the past women used to smoke something different than cigaret and it was somehow accebtable but it was not eccebtabel to somke cigaret. And now, even though there is sharp decline in the number of smoker women and smoking almost like a sham for women still it is more shock when women somke cigaret than that kind of smoke. So, may be the real cause of refuse to accebt when to smoke is the way of holding the cigaret. May be it make the women more roughness.
ReplyDeleteInteresting. So what were the women smoking that was acceptable?
DeleteAnd tell me what you mean exactly about the way of holding the cigarette being more "rough." I don't understand this.
Hi,
Deletein fact untile know some women who were smoking this kind of smok in 80s still smok it. But new genration they do not. and in our genration some of twon smoking disapear among them but in some Towns still as it is but they smoke the new one.
This a picture of old one.
http://gazaal4u.googlepages.com/algad0o0.jpg
they use this plant I do not know it is name in English because I do not know it is name in formal arabic.
http://www.alwasatnews.com/data/2011/3046/images/loc-70.jpg
"And tell me what you mean exactly about the way of holding the cigarette being more "rough." I don't understand this."
I do not know how to say that it is expacted from women to behave more softly and the way they use cigaret is far away from soft.
It is Tobacco
DeleteIn Vietnam, it is more acceptable for men to smoke than it is for women and I think it is the same to other Asian nations. It is generally believed that women who smoke are bad people and men don’t like such women.
ReplyDeleteSmoking is surely a bad habit and everyone knows that it can cause a lot of health problems to smokers and even other people around them. But I don’t understand why it is more acceptable for men only to smoke. I think this is the gender discrimination. If everyone agrees that smoking is not good for the health of human beings, it also means that there should be a ban on smoking for both genders.
Well, I appreciate your sense of fairness and gender equality but do you really think that smoking should be banned for everybody? What about personal choice? Shouldn't adults be allowed to make their own decisions? I mean, do you think we should ban other vices that are unhealthy for us as well? Why stop with cigarettes?
DeleteIn China, it is acceptable that men to smoke than for women previously,however, more and more women trending to smoke is an universal phenomenon with the development of society. Even though the women in China is more and more open, most of the Chinese people think the women who smoke are bad women and men don't like such women because of their bad behavior.
ReplyDeleteCorrection:
DeleteIn China, it used to be more acceptable for men to smoke than for women.
Serena,
You say that more and more women are smoking these days. Should I infer that China has more and more "bad women?" I mean, someone must think its okay?
Now, although china is more open and more easy to accept the different opinion from foreign country,some of our opinions are still lockstep. Women smoking is a bad habit. For example, if I see a woman smoking on the sidewalk, she will give me a bad impression in my mind, and this phenomenon is not allowed in the most eyes of our elder. But, the men smoking is the symbol of mature in our opinion generally,moreover, sometimes what kind or brand of cigarettes you smoke can stand for your social status. So, it is more acceptable for men to smoke than it is for women in China.
ReplyDeleteZhao
DOUBLE STANDARD! For women, "smoking is a bad habit... but [for] men smoking is the symbol of maturity... and the cigarettes you smoke can stand for your social status."
DeleteI think Donna kept Pat's secret because of this is pat's privacy. In China, the limit age of smoke is 18 years old, but teenagers also can buy cigarette. people can smoke in public, no one care smoker's gender, I remember people could smoked in bus before, but it's forbidden now.
ReplyDeleteXiao,
DeleteDonna did not keep Pat's secret. Donna doesn't even know Pat!
You are the first Chinese student to say that nobody cares about the smoker's gender.
Would any of our Chinese students care to reply to Xiao?
I don't like smoker.Specifically the female smokers.I believe people will get many really bad ideas to female smoker in my hometown.I don't want to say the word. But somking really effect a lot for a woman.And usually the women who somke live in the bottom of society when they was young.they start smoking because of peer pressure when they were teenager.The people who may effect other somke during they were teenager often is bad.There are less reasons for women somke,and a lots of negative impacts. So female smokers are less than male smolers. In fact, there are few female somkers in my hometown.
ReplyDeleteI don't think there is any different between men and women smoking , because in my culture smoking is unacceptable from both genders.
ReplyDelete