GENDER TALK: What do men make of women who smoke?

It seems that there are more women, younger women especially, taking up cigarette smoking. Just what do the men think of such women?

Jamie: I pity them. I try to distance myself from them when I can. No prizes for guessing I do not have any smoker women friends. I think many of them are doing what many women do; copy some new fad and stick with it even when in their heart they know it is not cool at all. With the cigarette brands we have on the market, I shudder to think that a woman would want to stain their teeth with the death sticks. But further than that, I would have the utmost disdain for one who puffs and thinks they should also be given a chance.

Benjie: On one drunken night at university, I kissed a girl who smokes....its not something I will forget very soon-its not that cigarette smoke disgusts me but physical intimacy with a smoker actually does! Although I find it strange that most of us are okay with men who smoke but can’t take a girl who smokes.

Andrew: Judging anyone at first glance is wrong but If she is from overseas - say somewhere near the north pole, I would understand. If she is from around here, immediately I will start to think that everything is off beam with this female…instincts!

There is something about the odor of a smoker that is just awful . I think smokers are immune to it, but I pick up the odor immediately and its even terrible coming from a female..not to mention how many shades darker her lips turn! But then again it’s her life, she may think she is cool, but then who are we to judge her, if anybody truly likes her then..good for them, that’s their business. Back in the day it was just something sexy for a woman to put a cigarette to her red lips as a ‘gentleman’ leaned over to light her up. Oral fixation maybe! But I don’t know what fixation the young females smoking today are trying to get! It’s just an out-and-out disgrace. The people who I wish the police should round up are the pregnant mothers who smoke..how awful can one get really?

Eugene Mugisha: Well, I don’t think I have a fixed opinion about women who smoke. It seems to shift as I grow older. Once, I actually found it very interesting, but after a while, I really hated women who smoke. Then, some time back, I spent a lot of time with a friend who smoked, and her other pleasant qualities made me overlook the cigarette, at least for a while. Then, sometime last year, I dated this girl who smoked, and that was it. My romance with smoker-women was over! It is just awful!

But am open minded. It is their life really. So, if they don’t inconvenience me, and I’m not dating them, they can puff away. By the way, do you guys know that it is statistically proven that smoking makes a man look “cooler” ?

Benjie: Honestly, I don’t know why anybody would smoke-I think it looks cool when you are a child or have child-brains...as for those that smoke till old age, I think by the time they realise they have grown older and it is not cool anymore, they are too hooked to give up.

Eugene Mugisha: Yes, there is that bit of getting hooked, and nicotine is one of the most addictive substances. Interestingly, while many people below 28 are dying hard to learn how to smoke and look cool, those above 28 are fighting, mostly unsuccessfully, to quit.

And still, those learning to smoke dont get the point. Now, a girl in her 20s smoking could be rubbed off to influences, but a mature woman, a mother smoking ... that is just wrong! ok, I admit, while I can tolerate girls who smoke, I would never date one!! No sir!

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