女性吸菸認同的自我形塑--以台北都會年輕吸菸女性為例

Abstract

本研究主要在回答現今台北年輕吸菸女性為何、且如何經由抽菸的過程獲取自我意義，以及想要獲取什麼樣的意義。自台灣對外開放菸酒市場之後的二十餘年間，越來越多年輕的都會抽菸女性投入吸菸者的行列，同時，相關的女性形象與再現也跟著開始興起，各式的現代西方女性形象開始與台北的抽菸女性有了關連，而這也使得女性的香菸消費成為一種獲取特定意義的方式。過去的香菸研究與論述總是認為有抽菸習慣的女性是學歷、社會地位較低、且有偏差行為的，然而現在，隨著都市與高學歷抽菸女性的增加，這樣的偏見必須被打破。本研究將透過對一個台北的抽菸女性友情團體的面對面訪談與觀察，從對女性抽菸者生命史的描繪開始，記錄這群女性日常的抽菸經驗與互動，並從中了解女性透過菸品消費獲取意義的過程，以及女性抽菸者在其中是否有挑戰性別界線的能動性。 從研究中可以發現，台北女性吸菸者在使用菸品的過程，有著溝通同伴社交情誼與自我意義的目的，並且藉由抽菸的地點選擇、抽菸與不抽菸的行事風格轉換、以及抽菸姿態的自我訓練，來形塑、確認、辯證自己的意義與認同。同時我們也發現訪談者對於西方現代女性的形象有著特別的認同渴求，這種渴求反映在對各式再現、商品的消費、使用上，而女性消費菸品的過程只是居於其中的一環。在後現代認同的邏輯上，現代女性的自我意義建構，的確擁有比以往更多的方式，各式商品與影像再現提供了多樣的意義選擇項目；但是，這種意義的多樣化卻是虛假的，一方面，這種消費即等於認同的方式是經常必須更換且不穩固的，另一方面，西方現代女性的主流形象早已存在於各式的商品與再現，所以即使商品與再現的選擇眾多，也並不代表意義的獲取可以多元。雖然經過這些女性對香菸的使用，抽菸不再只是專屬於男性的行為，而女性的性別意義也的確被重新溝通了，然而性別的界線並沒有鬆動，反而更加地穩固，女性的菸品消費變成了另一個被用來表達、再製固有異性戀體制的方式。

Throughout last 24 years, ever since market opening in Taiwan, young women have started smoking at a higher rate than young man. The research reported in this thesis explores what cigarette smoking means to young women, to see if smoking forms part of their gender identity. In Taiwan, because of the historical reason, western modern women image is the main idea, which leads the meaning of women representation and consumer goods today. Many consumer goods have been connected with the western modern women representation, so has the women smoking. Semi-structured interviews and life story were conducted with a friendship of women smokers’ group in Taipei aged 20–30 to explore subjective interpretations of cigarette smoking and the gendered meanings associated with smoking. Trying to find out is there any chance to cross the gender boundary. Grounded theory was used to generate a theory around the shared phenomenon of smoking. The analysis indicates that the concept of femininity is important both to the accounts that young women give about smoking and to their gender identity. For example, they choose cigarettes posture as feminine, and hold and ash their cigarettes in ‘gender-appropriate’ ways. The process of women smoking practice is a way to communicate women’s partnership, self-meaning, and fabricate gender identity. But it not means we can have multiple self-meaning through the process of cigarette consumption. Drawing upon the notion of gender identity, I argue that smoking is a gender act that can be internalized and which, when repeatedly practiced by women in gender-appropriate ways, which can constructs a feminine gender identity. Women’s smoking becomes a way to strengthen the regulation of sexuality, and reproduce the heterosexuality. We still can see there is a thin line, which is drawn between the masculine and feminine conduct.