摘要：In the United States, analysis of survey data provided by projects such as the National Health Interview Survey and the Youth Tobacco Survey has revealed the extent to which cigarette consumption patterns are influenced by gender and race. Taking our lead from a broader field of research that analyzed the sociological characteristics of cigarette consumption, we analyzed these intersections between race and gender through a study of masculinity and style in Marlboro and Kool cigarette advertisements during the 1960s and 1970s. We focused on this period because it was then that the racial bifurcation of cigarette consumption practices first became apparent. We suggest that style provides both a theoretical framework and methodology for understanding how and why White American and African American male consumers learned to consume in different ways. We also argue that the analysis of tobacco consumption in terms of masculinity and style provides a useful method for approaching the design of antismoking interventions. IN THE UNITED STATES , analysis of survey data provided by projects such as the National Health Interview Survey 1 and the Youth Tobacco Survey 2 has revealed the extent to which cigarette consumption patterns are influenced by gender and race. A gender-based analysis showed that smoking levels are approximately 24% higher for men than for women. 3 A race-based analysis revealed radical differences in the types of cigarettes consumed: White Americans, particularly White youths (i.e., middle-school and high-school students), smoked Marlboro cigarettes at nearly six times the rate of their African American counterparts, whereas young African American students smoked menthol cigarettes at four and a half times the rate of White students. 4 We examined the rise of these different patterns of tobacco consumption among men, with young White American men smoking Marlboros and young African American men smoking menthol cigarettes. We examined these different patterns through a study of the promotion of Marlboro and Kool cigarettes during the 1960s. We included a focus on the work of product designers, advertising agencies, and marketing and market research professionals who sought to shape the meaning of smoking. We discuss a range of different media used in the advertising of these cigarettes, including African American radio in the case of Kools and lifestyle accessories in the case of Marlboro. Our emphasis on advertising reflects the fact that smoking is a social phenomenon as well as an addiction 5 and that it is “largely propelled by mass media.” 6 We chose to concentrate on the 1960s because it was then that the racial bifurcation of cigarette consumption practices first became apparent. 7 This focus on men’s smoking and, in particular, on the differences between men represents a conceptual and theoretical challenge. As scholars have argued, men’s smoking is often understood as an affirmation of a socially significant distinction between the invulnerability and utility of the male body and the idea that the need to care for one’s health is feminine (and effeminate). 8 This distinction reinforces basic beliefs regarding differences between the male and female body and works, in the words of R. W. Connell, to “guarantee … the dominant position of men and the subordinate position of women.” 9 The focus on the differences between men is significant because it suggests that masculinity is a plural and unsettled category. 10 It therefore disrupts the notion of a clear or singular distinction between the male and female body. We used Pierre Bourdieu’s Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgment of Taste to examine the rise of these different patterns of tobacco consumption between men . We proceeded to analyze the way in which tobacco promotions associated with Marlboro and Kool cigarettes targeted and distinguished between White American men and African American men. Most important in this respect is Bourdieu’s notion of style. Style is important because it encapsulates an attention to the details and processes of decision-making and identity formation that have not always been considered in the context of masculinity. 11 As Bourdieu defines it, style is a “mode of representation expressing the mode of perception and thought that is proper to a period, a class or a class fraction, a group of artists or an artist.” 12 Jack Babuscio makes a similar point when he emphasizes the specificity of style. He writes, “Style is never natural, always acquired … it signifies performance rather than existence.” 13 That is, an emphasis on style foregrounds the fact that masculinity is a social “accomplishment” that “requires labor,” 14 rather than a natural 15 or self-evident 16 phenomenon that “has no history” 17 or that is universally recognized by all people all the time. An emphasis on style shifts the definition of masculinity away from the realm of the natural, the timeless, and the essential into domains that are much less stable. As well as a theoretical framework, Bourdieu’s concept of style provides a methodology for analyzing and understanding representations of tobacco use in the mass media. Style is particularly important in terms of its focus on the capacity of seemingly small acts and gestures to say a lot about not only aesthetics but also individual identity, social and cultural contexts, and politics. Particularly relevant in this regard is Bourdieu’s notion of “bodily hexis,” which pays attention to questions about clothing, hair, food, music, manners of speech, and bodily language (stance, gait, method of greeting). Bourdieu’s notion of style requires us to consider the way in which smoking is invested with meaning as part of a range of actions and gestures that together make up a particular mode or mood. 18 This analysis of the differences between men with respect to cigarette consumption reinforces the findings of a number of major reviews that have emphasized the importance of a multifaceted approach to tobacco control, 19 in which broad-based or communitywide programs designed to decrease initiation or increase cessation (such as excise taxes and health warnings) 20 need to be combined with targeted interventions, 21 including “motivational interviewing” and other person-centered approaches 22 that “[pay] attention to diversity,” 23 “derive a greater understanding of cultural differences,” 24 “resonate with the target population,” 25 and also reflect the targeted nature of tobacco advertising itself. In addition, as stated in a US National Cancer Institute report, “We will not remove tobacco from our society unless we are willing to understand the industry’s constantly changing tactics.” 26
