Torches of Freedom

Smoking as an inappropriate act for women Before the twentieth century smoking was seen as a habit that was corrupt and inappropriate for women. Dutch painters used tobacco as a symbol of human foolishness in the 17th century and in the 19th century, cigarettes were perceived as props of "fallen women" and prostitutes. Women's smoking was seen as immoral and some states tried to prevent women from smoking by enforcing laws. In 1904 a woman named Jennie Lasher was sentenced to thirty days in jail for putting her children's morals at risk by smoking in their presence and in 1908 the New York City Board of Aldermen unanimously passed an ordinance that prohibited smoking by women in public. Similarly in 1921 a bill was proposed to prohibit women from smoking in the District of Columbia. These groups saw smoking as an immoral activity and a threat. Yet during World War I as women took the jobs of men who had gone to war, they also began smoking even though it was still considered a taboo act. Cigarette companies began to increase advertising to women in the late 1920s. In 1928 George Washington Hill, the president of the American Tobacco Company, realized the potential market that could be found in women and said, "It will be like opening a gold mine right in our front yard." Yet some women who were already smoking were seen as smoking incorrectly. In 1919 a hotel manager said that women "don't really know what to do with the smoke. Neither do they know how to hold their cigarettes properly. Actually they make a mess of the whole performance." In 1929 Bernays decided to pay women to smoke their "torches of freedom" as they walked in the Easter Sunday Parade in New York. This was a shock because until that time, women were only permitted to smoke in certain places such as in the privacy of their own homes. He was very careful when picking women to march because "while they should be good looking, they should not look too model-y" and he hired his own photographers to make sure that good pictures were taken and then published around the world. ==1990s resurgence==

In the 1990s, tobacco companies continued to advertise cigarettes as "torches of freedom" as they sought to expand their markets around the world. Such brands as Virginia Slims continued to put forward the idea of modernity and freedom in new markets. The use of this imagery when advertising the cigarette has been specifically targeted at women in countries where women are gaining more equality and liberation. The images used in the advertising campaigns differ by region. In Spain they use images of women in masculine jobs, such as a fighter pilot, to appeal to young women—and the smoking rates among young women in Spain increased from 17% in 1978 to 27% in 1997. Tobacco companies are also using the cigarette as an image of emancipation in eastern and central Europe where cigarettes are shown as symbols of Western freedom. In the 1990s Germany was a focus for advertising, and between 1993 and 1997 the smoking rates among women aged 12–25 in Germany went from 27% to 47% even though the increase in men's smoking for the same age group is much smaller. In Japan, various cigarettes advertised to women have encouraged women to be unique. A survey by the Japanese Ministry of Health and Welfare showed that between 1986 and 1999 smoking among women had increased from 10.5% to 23.2%. Advertisements in South Africa have shown women crossing racial barriers as black women are shown accepting cigarettes from white men and in India women have been portrayed in Western clothes with cigarettes as a sign of liberation and upward mobility. In Asia it is becoming more acceptable for women to smoke and this is leading to a greater demand. Tobacco companies advertise to women around the world, showing cigarettes as symbols of upward mobility, gender equality and freedom. The impacts of tobacco companies targeting women can be seen by the increase in the number of women who started smoking in recent years. ==See also==