Little Rebels: Harvard Women Who Smoke Cigars

Cigar smoking conjures up images of final clubs, Locke-Ober and cognac. In 2001, however, cigar smoking is no longer limited to the Harvard male establishment. Harvard women are smoking cigars not only in defiance of male stereotypes, but also to relax and to celebrate.

Yes, many Harvard women have smoked cigars, although not necessarily on a regular basis. It’s not uncommon for these women to have tried their first cigar while bonding with Dad or other male friends. Harvard women are drawn to cigars for a variety of reasons, including image, relaxation and a desire to break the rules of conventional female behavior. One sophomore government concentrator in Leverett House, whose father smoked cigars, says,“The cigar smell reminds me of home. It’s sweet, and like a fireplace in the winter.” For her, cigar smoking can also be an act of rebellion. Though she claims that she is not picky about the types of cigars she smokes, she prefers Cuban Monte Cristos and finds cigar shops to be a lot of fun. “They’re so masculine, so you feel like a little rebel. [Cigar smoking] is definitely a traditionally male activity. If it weren’t, there wouldn’t be so much of a thrill,” she says. “It’s not very ladylike. It’s an assertion of strength.”

Blurring the boundaries of what was once considered “taboo” for women has its appeal. Diana K. Bowen ’04, who smoked her first cigar with her father on a camping trip in eighth grade, believes that because smoking cigars is a traditionally male activity, “it’s kind of refreshing and liberating to smoke them.” Bowen, who feels very relaxed while smoking cigars, reserves hers for special occasions with her friends—and males are generally not included.

Katrien R. Naessens ’02 has smoked cigars at the Winthrop House formals in an effort to show men that women too can smoke cigars. “I feel emancipated. It makes you feel like one of the boys,” she says.

Likewise, Kristin Hennings ’01 always smokes with “the boys”—seven or eight times per year. She started smoking cigars to prove to her male friends that cigar smoking was not a male-exclusive activity and to better understand why her father liked them so much. Particularly during her first two years at Harvard, Hennings smoked cigars frequently, sometimes just for fun and sometimes to celebrate (Hennings recalls the completion of her Chem 27 final exam as one such occasion). “To be perfectly honest, cigars are very much about the image. I really enjoyed it for a while, but then I realized I couldn’t take on the entire cigar-smoking world alone to make my point,” says Hennings.

Sara N. Lewis ’04 doesn’t need to prove anything to anyone. She smokes cigars with her blockmates, friends, men from her church, and even her father when she is “relaxed and pleased about something.” Lewis argues that it’s not unusual for women to smoke cigars. “Women have been smoking cigars in a socially acceptable way for a while. The shock factor is definitely gone,” she says.

Not all women who tried cigars feel compelled to make a regular practice of it. One group of women smoked cigars outside of their freshman entryway to celebrate after finals. Though Sarah E. Moss ’02 hasn’t smoked a cigar since, she would do it again. She felt “closer to crawling inside the spirit of T.S. Eliot than females typically get.” For Alexis J. Loeb ’02, the experience was not quite as memorable. “I’m not such a fan, which is why I haven’t done it in three years...The image of sophistication and relaxation soon gave way to the notion that my lips were becoming chapped and burned,” Loeb complains.

Other Harvard women also grumbled about the burning sensation in their lips and the smell. More found the experience to be disappointing. “I’ve tried to smoke a cigar with my guy friends. It looks like a lot of fun, but it’s really a miserable experience,” says one sophomore English concentrator in Dunster House.

One senior in Winthrop House who has never tried a cigar objects to the smoky sticks because they are so unhealthy. “The whole culture of American cigar smoking repulses me. It’s a culture that’s very unwelcoming towards women,” she explains.

Historically, the cigar-smoking world may not have been inviting to women, but Harvard men don’t seem to disapprove of women who smoke cigars. “Generally, I find women who smoke very sexy and sultry,” says Jeremy Funke ’04. “It could be kind of hot in that I’d think she’d be aggressive,” says Mike B. Jobbins ’04.

Blair F. Baldwin ’02 has no problem with women smoking cigars, but is convinced that “It’s an empowerment thing, a role-reversal that lets women behave like the fat-cat, corporate, maraudering men who traditionally have dominated the scene in the United States.”

Harvard women may be smoking cigars, but they’re not purchasing them in Harvard Square. Jonathan W. Coffin, a salesman at Leavitt & Peirce, says that while women will often buy cigars for men, he sees a woman buy for herself “at most once per week,” and normally it’s an older woman. Women also tend to opt for cigarillos, which are essentially cigarettes wrapped in cigar leaves. A popular brand is John T’s Flavored Cigars—sample flavors include chocolate, rum, cherry, coconut, vanilla and cappuccino.