Hookah Smoking: A Social Phenomenon's Influence

1005 Words3 Pages

Social phenomenon’s have existed since the start of mankind. What was known then as cultural norms has now become the modern day term, social phenomenon. By definition, “in sociology, such knowledge and experiences are referred to as social phenomena, which are the individual, external, social constructions that influence our lives and development, and are constantly evolving as we age” (Study.com). In my opinion, anything can be a social phenomenon as long as people are partaking in it. The social phenomenon I would like to discuss would be Hookah Smoking. Hookah smoking has been “practiced in eastern countries for hundreds of years (Baheiraei et al, 2015, p 2751), “and globally there are an estimated 100 million daily hookah smokers” (Baheiraei …show more content…

There are so many tobacco flavors to choose from that are more pleasing than that of a cigarette. Also, smoke sessions with hookah last anywhere from 2 to 3 hours versus the few minutes with a cigarette. Another reason for his phenomenon is its “particularly appealing to younger college students under the legal drinking age who wish to socialize and/or smoke” (Baheiraei et al, 2015, p 2752). As long as you are the legal age of 18 years old, you can frequent a hookah lounge. However, more importantly I believe this behavior exists because of its communal experience that everyone is able to enjoy. I also feel that there is much weight placed on the fact that many people don’t find hookah smoking harmful compared to cigarettes, although they may have the same toxins. In a research completed to see why hookah smoking was so appealing, it was founded that “in the data suggested Millennial hookah users had commonly held beliefs that hookah use was non-addictive” (Castañeda et al, 2016). Also, there are so many experiences that involve hookah smoking such as “the hookah pipe preparation process to mixing flavors and performing smoke tricks” (Castañeda et al, 2016) which makes it an exciting

Open Document