The Evolution of the Perception and Act of Smoking in the United Kingdom
Created by Joshua Brink on Fri, 06/24/2022 - 15:33
Part of Group:
This timeline displays how the perception and act of smoking have changed in the United Kingdom from the 19th century to today. Through this, one is able to see how the perception used to be a lot less concerned and more relaxed about smoking since many people did not know the impact that smoking has. Over time, the perception has turned more negative as more people have learned about the impacts it can have. Likewise, the act of smoking has decreased in the United Kingdom because of this shift in perception. However, this timeline will also show how it is still a prevalent adolescent activity because of the media's portrayal and emergence of e-cigarettes..
Timeline
Chronological table
| Date | Event | Created by | Associated Places | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| circa. 1820 to circa. 1840 |
Anti-tobaccoism is an Extremist BeliefNot only were people relaxed about the idea of smoking, but people were actually pro-smokers. This is explained when Smoking in British Popular Culture 1800-2000: Perfect Pleasures by Matthew Hilton (2000) states that "anti-tobaccoism was only ever something of an extremist fringe of the temperance [or anti-alchohol] movement… demonstrated by… the ability of the pro-smoking forces (which were considerable at the time as they included most of mainstream printed culture)” (pp. 62). The word "extremist" when referring to anti-tobacconists proves that most people were not against it. Moreover, this explains that most were even pro-smokers as it was "considerable at the time." |
Joshua Brink | ||
| 1855 |
Perception of Smoking is Relaxed, and Popularity of Smoking is CommonIn Antipodes; on, the new existence. a tale of real life, by a Clergyman (1855), he writes what a mother is saying to her grief-stricken daughter. The mother says that "If I were you, my dear, I would learn to smoke" (pp. 129). Through this, the relaxed perception of smoking is proven during this time. The mother is encouraging her daughter to smoke because neither the mother nor her daughter understands the long-term impacts it can have on a person. |
Joshua Brink | ||
| 1861 to 1865 |
United States Civil WarThis is included in the timeline to give a reference to the audience a better idea of what was happening in the world when the shift in smoking started to change. |
Joshua Brink | ||
| circa. 1950 |
The Knowledge that Smoking Could Cause Lung Cancer was Not as Widely KnownIn “Smoking, smoking cessation, and lung cancer in the UK since 1950: combination of national statistics with two case-control studies,” they state that "by 1950 lung cancer rates among men in the United Kingdom had already been rising steeply for many years, but the relevance of smoking was largely unsuspected” (Peto et al., 2000, pp. 323). This proves that part of the reason smoking had a relaxed perception was because the fact that smoking could cause lung cancer was not well known until a few decades after the 1950s. |
Joshua Brink | ||
| 1955 |
The Start of the Vietnam WarThis is included in the timeline to give a reference to the audience a better idea of what was happening in the world when the shift in smoking started to change. |
Joshua Brink | ||
| circa. 1960 to circa. 1979 |
A Consistent Number of Adolescents Have Smoked Despite the Growing Unpopularity of the ActivityLater in Smoking in British Popular Culture 1800-2000: Perfect Pleasures by Matthew Hilton (2000), he states that "throughout the 1960s and 1970s, the proportion of male smokers who claimed to have started smoking at less than sixteen years of age remained remarkably consistent at about 30 percent” and for women, it was also consistent at 15% (pp. 172). Here, one can see that while the impact of smoking is starting to be educated more often, the consistency of children's smoking remains high. Looking ahead, one can see why this is the case. |
Joshua Brink | ||
| circa. 1990 to circa. 2000 |
The Knowledge that Smoking can Cause Lung Cancer is Now a Well-Known Fact, Leading to a Decrease in SmokersIn “Smoking, smoking cessation, and lung cancer in the UK since 1950: combination of national statistics with two case-control studies," they proclaim that "over the next few decades, a substantial decrease occurred in the United Kingdom in the prevalence of smoking… and, eventually, in lung cancer rates” (Peto et al., 2000, pp. 323). This proves that smoking has overall decreased in the UK. Many now understand the detrimental health impacts smoking can have on a person including lung cancer. |
Joshua Brink | ||
| 2001 |
9/11 OccurredThis is included in the timeline to give a reference to the audience a better idea of what was happening in the world when the shift in smoking started to change. |
Joshua Brink | ||
| 2011 |
Smoking Remains Popular Among Adolescents because of Media Portrayal Despite Growing Negativity of the ActivityIn "Smoking in movies and adolescent smoking: cross-cultural study in six European countries,” they show that there is a relationship in smoking in young people and the way that smoking is depicted in the media. The article displays a graph of proving this relationship of the UK. When the authors do this, they proclaim that “[the graphs] show a consistent monotonic increasing relationship between exposure to movie smoking and ever smoking” (Morgenstern et al., 2011). This graph provides evidence that despite an overall decrease in smoking in the UK, adolescents are continuing to smoke because of the influence of smoking on television. Moreover, one British television show in particular called Absolutely Fabulous, further proves the media's effect on youth smoking. In Patsy Stone's Best Moments | Absolutely Fabulous, a video depicting various scenes from this show, there are multiple scenes with the character smoking. Not only is this shown, but because the show is a comedy, the mood in these scenes is not negative, but is lighthearted and funny (BritBox, 2019). Because of this, children will subconsciously be perceiving smoking as a light-hearted activity rather than a concerning dangerous one. |
Joshua Brink | ||
| 2016 to 2020 |
The Emergence of E-Cigarettes has Played a Role in Adolescents Continuing to Smoke Despite Overall Decrease of SmokingIn"A qualitative study of e-cigarette emergence and the potential for renormalisation of smoking in UK youth," a study was conducted that displayed the relationship between trying e-cigarettes and smoking regular cigarettes among young people. The article finds that “some emerging studies indicate longitudinal associations between trying e-cigarettes and subsequently trying smoking among young people deemed otherwise non-susceptible to smoking” (Brown et al., 2020). This proves that e-cigarettes are another cause of a surge in young people smoking despite overall decreases in people smoking. Because these youth are trying e-cigarettes, they eventually feel the need to try regular cigarettes. However, if e-cigarettes did not exist, these children would otherwise never have the desire to smoke. This is because in "E-cigarettes, a safer alternative for teenagers? A UK focus group study of teenagers' views," the authors' findings state that "teenagers typically viewed e-cigarettes as substantially less harmful than traditional cigarettes” (Hilton, 2016). Since the perception of cigarettes is not the same on e-cigarettes, these adolescents think that it is not that harmful to use e-cigarettes. However, once youth start using e-cigarettes, and get a taste of the nicotine, it is easier for them to eventually try real cigarettes, creating this problem. |
Joshua Brink | ||
| 2016 |
The UK has Taken Some Action to Prevent Smoking, but Has Ignored Further Restrictions RecomendedIn "UK government should fund stop smoking media campaigns not give tax breaks to films with smoking imagery," they admit that the shift in perception of smoking is reflected in the government somewhat when they say, “advertising or promotion of tobacco products in the United Kingdom is now prohibited.” (Hopkinson et al., 2016). These restrictions were not even thought about in the 1800s since the perception then was so different. While the UK has put some restrictions in place, many think that they need to do more saying that "recommendations by the World Health Organization that films with scenes of smoking should be given an adult content rating have, to date, been ignored by the UK government” (Hopkinson et al., 2016). With a positive relationship between youth smoking and the media's depiction of smoking, it makes sense for the UK to put more restrictions in place, however, so far the UK has not done anything to restrict smoking further. |
Joshua Brink | ||
| 2016 |
Perception of Tobacco and Tobacco Companies is NegativeIn 2016, a study was done that proved how people viewed tobacco companies in the Uk. In “How tobacco companies are perceived within the United Kingdom: an online panel” by Moodie et al. (2016), he says that “prompted awareness of tobacco companies was high (68%). Almost a third of the sample had a negative perception of tobacco companies’ practices.” (pp. 1766). This proves that there is a distinct change of perspective on tobacco in 2016 than it was in 1855. Now more people perceive it negatively rather than relaxed because of more people knowing the long-term impacts. |
Joshua Brink |