Most of us like the idea of being desired, even if we are not in the mood to be actively involved with someone at the time. We may choose to do little things that keep us attractive to potential love interests. Often, we may draw our concepts of what constitutes a desirable habit from what we see in the media. That is nothing new. Both men and women have done that ever since movie film was first created.

Once upon a time, women smoking was a sign of sophistication. A woman who wanted to draw the attention of a man who was wealthy and worldly would inevitably have a cigarette nearby. Smoking and women seemed to go together well, especially if a moving picture of women smoking cigarettes was currently playing at the movie house. Who can forget Bette Davis accepting a cigarette lit by her lover in Now Voyager, or the cool stance of Lauren Bacall as she stared down more than one man in this movie or that, cigarette lit and ready? Pictures of women smoking once were all over the media, including magazines. While it may have seemed daring at one time, women smoking cigarettes was pretty tame by the 1950’s, although women smoking pipes was still somewhat of a novelty. For the rest of the decade and into the 1960’s, smoking and women was a combination that most people took for granted, with no one really thinking to find anything odd about women who smoke.

Of course, the time came when the dangers of smoking began to become better known. This had a particular impact on women smokers, especially when the reality of the effects of pregnant women smoking came to the fore. The implication of smoking on women shifted from being sophisticated to being dangerous. Pregnant women and smoking was a favored way to introduce the ill effects of the smoking woman could face. From there, more research identified women and smoking as a combination that was anything but desirable.

So why after three decades of solid research that shows just how much danger smoking women place themselves in are we still talking about women smoking? The answer is simple: we still have women smoking. Perhaps as an added alarm for our time, more female celebrities are found smoking these days, threatening to rekindle images of glamour related to women that smoke. Before it is too late, women who smoke must be reminded that the image of smoking women lost its grandeur long ago and does not need to be resurrected. So do your friend a favor. Next time you see women smoking, make it a point to remark how unattractive it is, as well as being irresponsible and unhealthy. Surely one of those three will make the point.