San Antonio light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1911-1993, 1925-12-09
Listen, World!
Lady Nicotine
By Elsie Robinson


Mrs. Atwood il in great distress,
She has just discovered that her
daughter Constance smokes.
Constance Is twenty-one years oil
age, and has a position as confidential
secretary in a leading law firm in
this town. She is q beautiful, dignified
girl with a charming personality and
a fine mind. She has never done
any Of the wild things which distin-
guish the modern flapper. Mrs. Al
wood has always boosted that her
girl never gave her a moments
anxiety"
Yet last night, she came home un-
expectedly and found Constance smok.
ing cigarettes with two other young
women equally charming and intelli-
gent. To make matters worse, after
the first confusion, Constance brazenly
admitted that she had been smoking
for three years, saw nothing wrong in
1t, and had only concealed it from
her mother out Of consideration for
her mothers marrow views"
Naturally Mrs. Atwood was greatly
distressed. She now wishes me to
write q strong article about the i'm
morality of smoking by women.
/ am quite willing to write an ar
ficle about smoking.
But absolutely refuse to write an
article on the immortality of smoking
by women, for / am utterly unable to
prove that it is immoral.
Now get me right. I'm not a wild
woman with a yen for vice. ] am a
conservative, home loving female,
with a great regard for purity. And
feel the deepest sympathy for par
ents who find the daughter whose
purity has been their most cherished
possession, suddenly involved in q
habit which is associated with the
coarser side of life. Moreover, 1 I'M
derstand their desire to eliminate that
habit. But / do not think that the
ends Of purity can possibly be served
by willfully binding ourselves to the
truth or hysterical distortion of that
truth. And the truth about smoking
is that it is:
A bodily, not a spiritual function.
There is a great difference of opin-
ion amongst physicians as to how
smoking affects our bodies. Some au-
thorities hold that it is highly injuri-
Gus to both sexes. Other authorities
point out countless examples of men
and women who have lived to q great
age in spite Of the smoking habit.
Undoubtedly smoking in excess is
eating bad for the body, or excessive
coffee drinking, or excessive starch
consumption.
The argument will be raised that
smoking meets an actual poison into
the body, while the other things are
Just foods" But unwholesome foods
generate poisons which are exactly
on a par with nicotine. The auto
intoxication produced by poorly assim-
ilated foods is as dangerous as the
poisoning produced by alcohol or
nicotine.
h In this regard, smoking is doubtless
rbad" for either sex, but it is a bad
ness that involves the digestive organs,
not the immortal soul. In the ordin.
airy conception of the word, it cannot
be classed as immortality"
But" cries Mrs. Atwood, "smok-
ing by women is different from smok-
ing by men. 1t has a peculiar influ-
ruCt ou tnt lcIldit DOufs IL pftNthto
women from being healthy mothers"
/ have heard that theory and
have repeatedly sought confirmation
on this point from various physicians.
/ have never found a doctor who
will confirm this argument. They
have all said that such might" be
the case but there was no proof.
There does not, therefore, seem to
be a point on which feminine smok-
ing can be ranked as immoral" The
fact that it's n mans habit" docs
not bar its use by women any more
than the fact that women wear silk
stockings and use talcum powder bars
their use by men.
We can reasonably claim that smok-
ing is an expensive, untidy, unbeauti-
full habit, and often injurious to the
digestive system. And we may, some
day. abolish smoking on these grounds.
Just as we may, some day, abolish
all the rest of our dirty. useless habits.
But well never be able to abolish
feminine smoking on the ground of
immortality because we can't prove
those grounds and we only convict our
selves of ignorance and bigotry when
we try.