Smoking as a fashion accessory in the 90s: conspicuous consumption, identity and adolescent women's leisure choices

Abstract

Conspicuous consumption, as conceptualized by Veblen, increasingly influences people's choices of leisure commodities, not for their use value but for their signification in terms of identity and status. This paper explores the impact on their identity formation of their choice of smoking as a leisure activity by adolescent girls. We ask, ‘why do adolescent women adopt the images of women produced by the smoking marketeers?’; ‘why do adolescent women find this image desirable?’ and ‘what alternative choices of leisure activity are there for these women and for women in general?’ This form of leisure is a two edged sword. As a fashion accessory or a form of conspicuous consumption it may enhance outward appearances, status and peer group approval and project an image of autonomy. Nevertheless it may also deny the opportunities that leisure offers for exploration of identities which add more enduring value to one's sense of self. As a fashion accessory its very nature is of ephemeral value, while its long-term effects, in this instance, can be fatal. Ultimately we argue that leisure in the 1990s offers adolescent girls a perplexing array of stultifying stereotypes and multiple enriching identities. If we can provide a more sophisticated understanding of the adolescent smoker's world the leisure professional may be able to provide health education programs with opportunities for less health damaging activities.