At some point in recent history, smoking was moralized; it became a character flaw to smoke. Rather than allow smokers to weigh the costs and benefits of smoking and make a rational decision, societal forces have instead chosen to make social pariahs out of smokers, attempting to shame them out of their habit. This is Sociology 101: to effect certain behaviors on a societal level, one must produce shame in those who practice said behaviors. One produces shame by creating the illusion that said behaviors reflect on the moral (and subsequently, social) value of an individual. Societies have used shame as a force for socialization from time immemorial -- mostly because it's highly effective(for a brief introduction, I recommend Norbert Elias' work).
You can witness the shaming of smokers everyday. The smoking bans in restaurants, bars and other public buildings work to segregate and subsequently ostracize smokers. Common phrases like, "Kissing a smoker is like licking an ashtray," attempt to make smokers feel unattractive and undesirable. And then, of course, there are tasteful ads like these:
Yup - if you smoke, you're a baby-killer.
To deny smokers their own humanity in this way is lazy, insulting and despicable.
I, for one, will not be bullied into quitting. Anyway, social stigmas become me.
No comments:
Post a Comment