In 1923, women consumed only 5% of all cigarettes sold. By 1929, the number had grown to 12%, it jumped to 18.1% by 1933, peaked in 1965 at 34%, and remained substantially unchanged through 1977. In 1987, 26.7% of women smoked, and in 1994, 23.3% of women smoked.1 By 1997, an estimated 24.7% of American women smoked. Smoking among adult women has remained relatively constant since 1985; however, the incidence of smoking among adolescent girls continues to increase.
Advertising directed specifically to women was not acceptable until the late 1920s. Prior to that time, social, cultural, and legal pressures limited a woman's ability to smoke and, as a result, few did.2
Some of the first cigarettes targeted to women included features that were designed to appeal just to women, such as an ivory tip, a red fashion tip to blend in with the smoker's lipstick, or a plain end.3 This new approach fit with the changes in society in which women were beginning to assume a new role brought about by the new freedoms earned by the women's suffrage movement.
This 1926 Chesterfield ad with a woman encouraging her date to "Blow some my way," intimates that she enjoys the smoke and possibly that her date might offer her one. This ad reflects the attempts by women in this era to assert their independence and freedom to choose.3
1 O'Keefe AM, Pollay RW. Deadly targeting of women in promoting cigarettes. JAMWA. 1996;51(1&2):67-69.
2 Bloch M. Women and smoking: a lethal combination. NCJW. Spring 1997:24-26.
3 Women and Girls Against Tobacco |
