'I can't quit smoking because I'm a woman'

 

Office worker Lee Yeon-joo, 29, has been trying to quit smoking for over a year, but without much success. Although she is concerned about her health, she can't give up the habit of chain-smoking that she picked up during the last four years working in her company.

 

"Though it's my own fault that I haven't been able to keep to my resolution, I can't help thinking that the company played a role in the bad habit," she says.

 

In 2002, Lee entered one of Korea's major companies that is known for having a conservative atmosphere. Unable to smoke around male colleagues and seniors in the smoking-zone provided by the building, Lee began to pay frequent visits to cafes as an alternative.

 

"Smoking has cost me a lot of money, and I'm not talking about the price of cigarettes either. The frequent trips to coffee shops means I have to buy several expensive cups of coffee a day."

 

Lee also began to chain-smoke at least three cigarettes in less than 15 minutes, knowing that she wouldn't be able to smoke again for a couple of hours.

 

"Ironically, this has now become some kind of a secret routine that I can't seem to get rid of," she said.

 

As smoking is now a globally accepted as a health hazard, females no longer advocate gender equality for the sake of free smoking. But ironically, a biased social climate appears to be making it much harder for some females to quit the habit.

 

It has been almost two years since the Korean government declared war against smoking.

 

Along with raising the price of cigarettes by 500 won per pack in December 2004, the Ministry of Health and Welfare has opened 246 nonsmoking clinics nationwide, providing free of charge assistance to those who wish to quit smoking.

 

With over 2 million male smokers signing up for help at these clinics, the percentage of adult male smokers dropped below 50 percent for the first time in March this year, reaching 45.9 percent in September.

 

The percentage of adult female smokers, however, has been stuck at between 2 to 3 percent. In September, 2.8 percent of women smoked, showing a slight increase from the 2.4 percent in June. Almost none of these females registered at the government-run clinics.

 

What is worse, the government statistics on female smokers may not be reliable. With many women keeping the fact a secret, it is likely that there are far more female smokers out there.

 

"The gender equality argument may have played a crucial role in increasing the number of female smokers, but the ongoing prejudice is making it harder for them to expressly work on quitting the habit," said Lee Bok-geon of the Korean Association of Smoking and Health. "Although we all know that expressing the will to quit is the first and the most crucial step to quit smoking, most females are unwilling to reveal the fact that they smoke to begin with."

 

Due to reasons such as this, female organizations are highlighting the need for a separate plan to work on women smokers. With the number of smokers unclear to begin with, it is almost impossible to actively work on reducing the number, they say.

 

But for women like Lee, going to a public clinic is not on her agenda to help quit the habit.

 

"The public nonsmoking clinics are the last place I'd go to. Why would I want to reveal myself after all these years? Especially, if I'm going to quit anyway," said Lee.

 

"Chain-smoking" is another serious problem, especially for female smokers who can't smoke as freely as men.

 

According to research by the Health Ministry, over 90 percent of female smokers said they smoked more than three cigarettes each coffee break for the simple reason that they had limited freedom for smoking.

 

As women are biologically weaker to nicotine addiction, it becomes even more dangerous for chain-smokers, experts say.

 

"When the organs ore exposed to a massive amount of nicotine at a time, it becomes harder for the person to control to desire, even after making up their minds to quit," said Chung Chan-wook of Prism Internal Medical Center. "From various researches, we found that chain smoking could be a crucial factor that was making it harder for women to quit."

 

Though Korean society has opened up toward the idea of female smokers, the majority still seems somewhat discomforted by the idea. While it is easy to spot men smoking on the streets, women smokers usually find a more secretive area to smoke - cafes, bars and toilets.

 

Astonishing incidents still occur concerning female smokers. Earlier this year, a female smoker in North Jeolla Province was beaten by a man who called her a "smoking trash." After being arrested, the man said, "Why arrest a citizen with a proper mind."

 

In 2001, the confederation of female student unions in nationwide universities surveyed 1,475 male students on their feelings on female smokers.

 

While 42 percent answered that they did not mind, 89 percent answered that they did not want smokers as their girlfriends or wives, proving that a double standard existed for female smokers even among the younger generation in their 20s. Most of these students had answered that they did not like female smokers "for no reason."

 

"I am afraid that this might make me a sexist, but I frankly can't see myself getting married to a woman smoker," said a 32-year-old office worker who wished to remain anonymous. "I am worried for the baby and all, but mostly, I just don't like the idea."

 

With this double standard, women feel that they are not really given the freedom to smoke - or quit.

 

In her book "The Cruel History of Female Smokers (Heupyeonyeoseong Janhoksa)," author Suh Myung-sook insists that society must first scrap prejudice against female smokers before sticking an obligation of quitting to them.

 

"Although females have broken the taboo of smoking, the traditional social taboo has not yet been broken. The real freedom of quitting comes with a real freedom to smoke," she said.

 

"Because men have the freedom to smoke, they have the freedom to quit. But for women, they have less chance to think about quitting since they are already too taken up over the issue of smoking," Suh added. "How could society really think about helping female smokers to quit smoking, when they don't even admit the fact that women do smoke?"

 

Centuries ago, women in trousers were considered "dissenters" of the social morals. Now, women wearing pants are no different from those in neat skirts or dresses. Is Korea as open-minded to women smokers as to women in trousers, or will it take another century for that to really happen?

 

Whichever the case, one thing is for sure: Unless women are given the same open-minded view on smoking as wearing pants, it will remain harder for them to openly consider the issue of quitting.