Social pressures and resistance to cigarette smoking : a phenomenological study with young adolescent women

Abstract

While advertising permeates many aspects of our lives, how it is perceived to influence the choices we make around areas that can have a marked effect on our health has been relatively unexplored. The purpose in this phenomenoiogical study is to use cigarette advertising found in magazines targeted towards young adolescent women as a hermeneutic prompt and explore the questions: What are the social pressures on young women to smoke that are reinforced through cigarette advertisements? and, How do they experience these social pressures? Through the use of phenomenoiogical methodology, the study aims to provide nurses and others with a richer and deeper understanding of young women and smoking. -- The experience of social pressures on young adolescent women to smoke that are reinforced through cigarette advertising is a complex interrelationship among the following themes: Being with others: smoking is a social event, Being like your peers: developmental issues, Parents, family and other important relationships matter, Not having an effective voice, Addiction warnings are not enough: you don't read the small print, Leading by misleading: seeing through the ads, and Smoke and you will be attractive, popular and slim: myths in ads. Through these themes a greater understanding of just how easy it is for young women to smoke is more clearly understood. The essence of the lived experience of the young women is, It is so easy to smoke. The findings also provide some insights into why smoking prevention and cessation programs targeted towards this group may not have the desired effect in practice. Implications for nursing practice and education, nursing research, and health policy are discussed.