Press Releases
Smoke & Mirrors: A Revealing Event for Women
Approximately 80 area women gathered on Tuesday, February 3, 2009 at Jubans Restaurant for an afternoon of fellowship, fun and pampering. But the women who attended the event, hosted by The Louisiana Campaign for Tobacco-Free Living (TFL) and YWCA Greater Baton Rouge, walked away with more than gift bags to remind them of the event. The women also enjoyed free massages and beauty pampering courtesy of TonJa Lee with Mary Kay Cosmetics, Janet Rasmussen, Massage Therapist, and Baton Rouge Massage Therapy Center. The inaugural Smoke & Mirrors event left participants with a poignant understanding of the health consequences of tobacco use and the truth behind the tobacco industrys long history of deceptive marketing that lures women to use a product that kills 178,000 of them in each year. Donna Britt, news anchor for WAFB-9, was the emcee of the event and Sharon Lair, TFLs Advocacy Coordinator, was the guest speaker.
In the United States, more than 21 million adult women currently smoke cigarettes, putting them at risk for heart attacks, strokes, lung cancer, emphysema and other life-threatening illnesses. Since 1987, lung cancer has been the leading cancer killer among women. Heart disease is the overall leading cause of death among women, and smoking accounts for one of every five deaths from heart disease. Women also suffer gender-specific risks from tobacco, including harm to their reproductive health and complications during pregnancy.
As Lair revealed the truth about smoking, and the tactics the tobacco industry uses to entice vulnerable women and girls to use its products, images of glossy magazine advertisements for tobacco products flashed overhead. The ads touted sleek, sophisticated, and spirited women with burning cigarettes dangling from their perfectly manicured fingers. What followed were images that showcased the vulgar reality of the effects of years of smoking.
What woman or girl doesnt want to be perceived as stylish, sophisticated and sexy? These are the images that tobacco industry advertising has portrayed since they started targeting cigarette advertising to women in the 1920s and the advent of women-specific brands in the 1960s, said Carrie Broussard, Policy and Advocacy Program Manager for The Louisiana Campaign for Tobacco-Free Living. Its no different today with Camel No. 9, the most recent example of how the tobacco industry shamelessly focuses on the unique social pressures that women and girls face, added Broussard.
It is important for women to understand not only the serious health consequences of smoking and secondhand smoke exposure, but to realize that women and children are targeted to an industry whose intent is sell an addiction that is extremely difficult to overcome and ultimately deadly, said Roberta Madden, Director of the YWCAs Racial and Social Justice program. With this knowledge, we hope women in our community will be inspired to take action, speak up and educate others.
Before the Smoke & Mirrors, I didnt fully understand how tobacco use and secondhand smoke impacts women and children, said Gwen Carriere, Author/Educator and also a guest at the event. Women have the power to refuse to be victims of an industry that is more concerned with profits than people. We can influence future generations to be tobacco-free.
According to Broussard, There are proven policy practices that our leaders can embrace that can reduce tobacco use in Louisiana by women and girls and the population as a whole—policies that eliminate smoking from all work places and successfully prevent youth initiation by making access to tobacco products more difficult, added Broussard.
TFL and the YWCA Greater Baton Rouge are working with local communities to build advocacy for policies that protect all workers from secondhand smoke exposure, as well as prevent youth from picking up the habit.
