ryadh. According to a recent study conducted by the Saudi Ministry of Health's anti-smoking program, the number of female smokers is growing at an alarming rate in the country. These are mainly shisha smokers – the Egyptian name by which hookah is also known – and the phenomenon concerns all age groups, with a surge among the very young.
The latter do not dare to smoke in front of parents and relatives and do it secretly, alone or in small groups of friends; once married, however, it will be the husband who decides whether they will be allowed to smoke in the home. Aesha Al-Omari, who started smoking when she was a teenager, says her husband tried several times to get her to stop, but in the end she had to give up and allowed her to continue smoking her shisha.
Amer Ali, owner of a "shisha store", says that there are many women who come to buy tobacco and perfumed essences to add to the hookah water and are willing to spend a lot: narjeela, for example, a very famous aroma, can also cost a thousand riyals (US$266).
But why do Saudi women smoke so much? The study does not investigate the causes, but some experts interviewed spoke of "against" smoking, that is, a choice aimed at showing one's rebellion against social norms and conventions that limit women's rights and freedom.
Sociologist Sabbah Zahhar, for example, argues that for Saudi women, smoking is a way to affirm gender equality in a society where men dominate in all aspects of life.
