Cigarette smoking has reached its lowest usage in 60 years, yet overall tobacco use is offset by a 7.2 million increase in people who exclusively use e-cigarettes/vapes. For those in the age bracket of 18-24, exclusive cigarette smoking has fallen to just 1.2%, while e-cigarette use rose to 10.3%. Can the same trend be said for Colorado College? On a brisk Friday night, I set out to see what those who were going out thought about smoking culture at CC.
Outside of Sigma Chi, many were willing to share their opinions, though for the sake of the subject, they asked to remain anonymous. One opinion rose above the rest: CC is definitely a cigarette school. But why?
For one, smoking is a social activity.
“It’s one of the most bonding things that you can do outside of a Sig Chi party. You meet so many people bumming a cigarette, smoking a cigarette, someone asking you for a cigarette. Cigarette culture is what makes you friends at this school,” said one student.
The social culture of smoke circles was also cited. “I think, especially for, like, in the colder weather, it brings people outside to talk with people that they’ve never talked to beforehand.”
Others agreed that there is a difference between smoking at parties and in personal life. The idea that “drunk cigs don’t count” was vehemently agreed upon.
“My personal culture is I take three puffs of a drunk cigarette,” one student said.
Many also cited the performative nature of cigarettes. One student remarked that people love the cigarette for “the Lana Del Rey vibe.”
“We’re vintage. We like to go outside,” one student remarked when asked why cigarettes are cooler than vapes.
Alternative perspectives shared on why they don’t smoke at CC parties. One student cited their athletic career as a reason for not smoking and another emphasized the element of personal choice. “If you don’t want to, nobody is going to make you, especially at Sigma Chi.”
The judgment on vaping was clear, yet there was also an acknowledgment that CC students tend to vape privately and smoke cigarettes publicly. CC was described as a “cigarette school, with a vape bubble.” People think they’re too good for vapes, yet the underground opinion was that many still do it.
So why are cigarettes so prevalent, yet also performative? One freshman argued that cigarettes are part of the aesthetic at many liberal arts schools. Cigarettes have been marketed as fashionable towards young people for over a hundred years. “It’s old school, rebellious, motherfuckers want to feel different.”
After my night on the town, I was struck by the prevalence of the liberal arts smoker. Smoking a cigarette signals that you are anti-authority, sexy and intelligent compared to the social repercussions of pulling out a vape.
The liberal arts smoker persona seems to be apparent at other small colleges across the country. The Brown Daily Herald released an article about the problem of cigarette prevalence on campus, citing the re-glamorization of the cigarette. Kenyon College, a liberal arts school in Ohio with a student population and culture similar to CC, wrote a sardonic piece last year about the social signaling of stereotypical liberal arts students who smoke: the moody Kierkegaard-reading, fashion-repurposing students who lend themselves to a Marlboro solely for the aesthetic.
So are we all performing, taking a puff of the cigarette and lending a politically charged comment against the man in pursuit of being intelligent and intriguing? In a generation where chronic online activity has created a world where one feels constantly scrutinized, the accusation of performativity has increased exponentially, as Shaden Higgs ‘29 wrote in a thought-provoking piece a few months ago.
While many had thoughts on the performative nature of cigarettes and while there may be an aspect of reality to these judgments, what I saw on my night out was merely people engaging in a social event together. Smoking by oneself and personal nicotine addiction, statistically found to be acted out through vape usage, is an entirely separate issue. During my research, I encountered quite a few worrying stories of party cigarettes turning into casual smoking on the way to class.
Peer pressure is a real issue and no one should feel pressure to take part in an act that can lead to serious addiction. But as far as the root of the matter goes, we all make dubious decisions at times, and I would argue that these unhealthy, performative acts are a part of being human.
Is cigarette smoking more socially acceptable at a party than vaping alone? Undoubtedly. Is this rooted in performativity? It’s possible. But I don’t think that should stop you from having a drunk cig now and then, if only for the reason of enjoying being human.