Ladies be Warned

We here at IA of course are in favor of equality for women. But the following is not good news:
There is one area where women have almost reached equality with men: Smoking.

"Women in former generations smoked at a rate lower than men. Men smoked much more than women in the decades of the 40s and 50s... Now women smoke almost as much as men.[1]"

This of course concerns us, because while the IA male smokers are trying hard to quit, some of the IA ladies have gone the other way and started lighting up.

Read this: … Women smokers are likely to increase as a percentage of the total. ... And as a recent official report showed, they seem to be less influenced by the anti-smoking campaigns than their male counterparts [2].

We wonder why.

Is it because the warning label on cigarette-pack scares men more than women?
In Indonesia, the warning says (roughly translated): Smoking can cause cancer, heart attack, impotency and may complicate pregnancy.

Well, cancer should scare everybody. So should heart attack. Or not?

"Every year, [in the US] smoking kills more than 276,000 men and 142,000 women through smoking-related diseases, including lung and other cancers, heart disease, stroke, ...[3]".
Well, well. No wonder it scares men more than women.

Smoking can cause impotency? Men's problem.

Complicated pregnancy?
If you are just like IA ladies who are married with kids (and not planning to have more), complicated pregnancy is no longer a concern.

Folks, looks like the cigarette warning label is not a warning enough for women. Maybe we need to make some changes here.
If we could suggest some changes to the warning label, what would we say?

Below are some suggestions :
(drafted by IA men, for IA ladies, because we care..)

• Smoking makes you fat.
  This is the first that comes to mind, considering women are more concerned about losing weight than men [4].
  Unfortunately it's quite the opposite. Actually quit smoking makes you fat. "Nicotine is an appetite suppressant. It speeds up your metabolism and affects your taste. When you quit smoking food tastes better and you feel hungrier [5]."
  
  Darn... Can't use this one.


• Smoking makes you look less educated.
  Ladies, read the statistics: Women who receive less formal education are more likely to become smokers, and smoking rates decrease with higher levels of formal education. [6]. No point dressing for success if you keep puffing away...


• Smoking will make you go bald.
  Forget those shampoo commercials, ladies. This one is true [7].
  We know how "Women more than men have a significant psychological investment in their appearance, and are likely to react more negatively to events such as hair loss...[8]" , so stop smoking right now.


• Smoking will make you look even more like your mother-in-law.
  That's right ladies. Smoking causes wrinkles [9]. We know how much you 'love' your mother-in-law [10], so stop smoking before it's too late!


• Smoking : eye bag. Stop smoking and save up : Gucci bag.
  Read this ladies: "cigarette smoke can, at best make your eyes bloodshot and watery and at worst cause an allergic reaction of puffy, swollen eyes [11]."
  Stop smoking, on the other hand, can save you enough to buy the Gucci bag you have been dreaming of...[12]

Got some suggestions? Send them to us!

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Source:
[1] HealthScoutNews - One Gender Gap Goes Up in Smoke
[2] ASH - Big Tobacco and Women
[3] healthywomen.org - Smoking
[4] Physorg.com -
Women More Concerned About Losing Weight Than Men
[5] cpublichealth.co.nz - Quitting Smoking
[6] womens health channel - Women & Smoking
[7] frontlinemed - Can smoking affect hair loss?
[8] ISHRS - Psychological Effects of Hair Loss in Women
[9] mayoclinic.com - Smoking: How does it affect your skin?
[10] Brain Dynamics - Why Women Hate Mothers-In-Law
[11] getbeautytips.com - Natural Cures for Puffy Eyes and Dark Circles
[12] MSN Money - 7 radical ways to save money