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The Physician's Role in Stopping an Equal Opportunity Killer

Nancy J. Kaufman, RN, MS

JAMA. 1994;271(8):629-630.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

Ever since the Baroness de Dudevant (Chopin's mistress, Paris, circa 1840) purportedly became the first woman to don men's trousers and smoke in public,¹ smoking by women has become indelibly intertwined with images of independence, fashion, and attractiveness. At the turn of this century, few women smoked. Female smoking prevalence did not exceed 25% until World War II, when it was still half that of men's. Smoking prevalence in men has declined substantially, by almost half, from 51.9% in 1965 to 28.1% in 1991, while women's prevalence has diminished by only about one third, from 33.9% to 23.5%, respectively.² If these trends continue, smoking prevalence for women may, early in the next century, equal that of men. Women have, indeed, "come a long way."

The uptake of smoking by women evolved via social and economic forces. Smoking became a symbol of emancipation and defiance. This symbolism was not . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

Author Affiliations
From The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Princeton, NJ.

Footnotes
The views expressed in this article are those of the author, and no official endorsement by The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is intended or should be inferred.

Reprint requests to The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, PO Box 2316, Princeton, NJ 08543-2316 (Ms Kaufman).

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