Degree

BS (Social Sciences & Liberal Arts)

Faculty / School

School of Economics and Social Sciences (SESS)

Department

Department of Social Sciences & Liberal Arts

Date of Award

Fall 2019

Date of Submission

2019-08-23

Advisor

Dr. Naveen Zehra Minai, Assistant Professor, Department of Social Sciences

Project Type

SSLA Culminating Experience

Access Type

Restricted Access

Abstract

The research provided below explores the correlation between masculinity and how it is reinforced through the act of smoking which is treated as a social practice rather than a physical addiction in this research. Through personal experience I can say that smoking areas have been gendered in Pakistani society, encouraging bonding between men and excluding women or men who do not fit into the “Masculine archetypes”. The literature available in Pakistan does not highlight the Pakistani version of masculinity and how it manifests itself through the act of smoking, making use of exclusionary instruments to exclude women in particular. It should be noted that the research revolves around university students.

In order to collect the necessary research, a total of six smokers were interviewed (three from the Institute of Business Administration and three from Indus Valley School of Arts and Architecture). The participants were chosen randomly, as long as they fell into the required demographics - age group ranging from 18 - 24 and a mix of lower, middle and upper class. Alongside unstructured interviews, participant observation played a crucial role in determining the results of the research. The data collected through these interviews was seen through the lens of the Collective Portrait approach, talking about topics such as gendered spaces, othering, hegemonic masculinity, and disciplinary mechanisms. The key research findings did suggest a positive relationship between hegemonic masculinity and the act of smoking, covering a range of factors that help this relationship to thrive. This research aimed to uncover how men normalize this behavior and how conscious they are of their actions which might affect other individuals.

Pages

i, 39

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