Female Smokers' Self-identity Shaping-- A Case Study of Women Smokers in the Taipei City
Date Issued
2011
Date
2011
Author(s)
Chao, Chen-Yi
Abstract
Throughout last 24 years, ever since market opening in Taiwan, young women have started smoking at a higher rate than young man. The research reported in this thesis explores what cigarette smoking means to young women, to see if smoking forms part of their gender identity. In Taiwan, because of the historical reason, western modern women image is the main idea, which leads the meaning of women representation and consumer goods today. Many consumer goods have been connected with the western modern women representation, so has the women smoking.
Semi-structured interviews and life story were conducted with a friendship of women smokers’ group in Taipei aged 20–30 to explore subjective interpretations of cigarette smoking and the gendered meanings associated with smoking. Trying to find out is there any chance to cross the gender boundary.
Grounded theory was used to generate a theory around the shared phenomenon of smoking. The analysis indicates that the concept of femininity is important both to the accounts that young women give about smoking and to their gender identity. For example, they choose cigarettes posture as feminine, and hold and ash their cigarettes in ‘gender-appropriate’ ways. The process of women smoking practice is a way to communicate women’s partnership, self-meaning, and fabricate gender identity. But it not means we can have multiple self-meaning through the process of cigarette consumption.
Drawing upon the notion of gender identity, I argue that smoking is a gender act that can be internalized and which, when repeatedly practiced by women in gender-appropriate ways, which can constructs a feminine gender identity. Women’s smoking becomes a way to strengthen the regulation of sexuality, and reproduce the heterosexuality. We still can see there is a thin line, which is drawn between the masculine and feminine conduct.
Subjects
cigarettes smoking
young women
gender identity shaping
consumption
western representation
Type
thesis
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