issue 28 // volume 40 Electronic cigarettes Philippe Payeur Contributor don’t smoke, and as such, I’ve gleefully taken part in feeling superior and righteous. Overall, as a society, we ve become more enlightened in the last century. We're more compassionate and our moral imagination has been vastly broadened. That’s why being a non- smoker was so great. It was a chance to cut loose and behave like a close-minded bigot, just them and was smug when they told me about their shame, smoking. They were the only group we were allowed to be openly hostile to in an era that was obsessed with political correctness. Starting in the ‘gos, we waged a war. We took away their smoking sections in restaurants and taxed them into oblivion. We humiliated them with labels that warned of impotence and stuffed them into airtight glass terrariums at airports, making them look like an attraction at a museum. “Observe the smoker in his natural habitat. Notice the look of consciousness that the world is moving past her.’ In this game of cultural warfare, our team had Michael Jordan. Our team was crushing it. “Yeah, that’s right. Six metres from the entrance. Further. Over there in the rain. Yeah, there.” Then came electronic cigarettes (e-cigs), a sexy little flute-looking thing that comes in customizable colours and flavours. It delivers a nicotine hit without the carcinogens that come with tobacco and produces less smoke and odour. Smoking inside! At parties and opinions // 15 It’s just that some of us fantasized about Wiping out smoking in a unilateral, scorched earth, shock-and-awe way. > in restaurants! Smokers holding their heads : high with *gulp* dignity. It even : kind of looks cool. How did : this sneak through? It felt like : our side, which for decades had like our grandfathers! I criticized ? Known nothing but triumph, : had suffered a setback. I can’t be the only one who feels outrage. From a more compassionate : perspective the e-cig isa handy : device that our nicotine-addled : friends can use to get a fix : without dramatically raising : their risk of cancer or wiping : out their bank account. In social : situations it’s not annoying : as long as the user practices : good manners. When a new : technology enters our lives it : sets off an onslaught of poor : etiquette until we develop : a consensus for acceptable : behaviour. E-cigs are new and : thus many are behaving like ass- : hats with them, exhaling in your : direction, not asking if it’s okay : to use in your house, etc. We'll get there eventually. Consuming nicotine and : tobacco are two very different : things. Anything that hurts : the cigarette industry is good. : E-cigs are a good thing, it’s : just that some of us fantasized : about wiping out smoking ina : unilateral, scorched earth, shock- : and-awe way. E-cigs feel like a : product of our enlightened time, : which is depriving some of us of : our feelings of superiority and : righteous indignation. I enjoyed : being a jerk to smokers. I’ll have : to get my fix somewhere else. Apathy 1s the new sexy » Does body image matter on the beach? lloradanon Efimoff Contributor I may not look like summer yet, but I promise you, it’s right around the corner. And what comes with summer? Parties, barbecues... and, of course, the beach! Let’s be real: how are you getting your beach body ready? Are you cutting back on food? Starving? Working on your thigh gap? Doing an endless number of push ups? Planks? Burpees? Do you just put on a healthy dose of confidence? Want to know my secret? I don’t think about it, and I don’t : care. Does that mean that apathy is the key to sexiness, sex-appeal, : or self-confidence? Probably : not. But it sure as hell beats the : endless and pointless hours at : the gym ina vain attempt to be : “sexy.” After all, I have a lot more : fun at the beach, swimming or : throwing a football around than : | would if I sat there worrying : about my lack of a “thigh gap” Besides, you're never going : to please everyone. Someone : will dislike your bathing suit : choice, and write you off as not : sexy. Someone will see your abs : and consider you “too fit for : a girl.” Someone will see your : chest hair, or lack thereof, and think it’s gross. Your facade of : confidence may crumble when : you realize not everyone is : fooled by it. All of these things : are aimed at attaining a concept : of sexiness. However, everyone : has a different idea of what's sexy : : in real life, even if the magazines : : don't seem to agree with this fact. Growing up as a young : both in their late teens and early 20s (and quite a few who : area lot older), regardless of : their feminist or non-feminist : identity, have body image issues. : : I know I was prone to these in : the past, and still am sometimes. : Most girls don’t seem to consider : : mind is that no body is perfect, : and there is no point ina body : being aesthetically perfect, : anyways. The point of a body is : to be functional, not to look nice : (in the big picture, anyways). : In fact, the whole concept of : beauty or sex appeal is largely : constructed and cultural. themselves sexy, but work really : hard to try to reach that ideal— : whether it’s by tanning, losing : weight, dying hair, or wearing ? woman ina society that idealizes : : thin, white, blonde girls has : illustrated to me just how (a) : impressionable most teenage : girls are, and (b) how difficult it : can be to deal with the concept : of “sexy.” Most girls I know, makeup. Or maybe they try to : take the “short-cut” and just act > confident. The issue with this is that whether it be physical (i.e. : losing weight) or attitudinal (i.e. confidence) changes, all of these : things really just perpetuate the : idea that we should care about : what others think of our bodies. The fact is, when you lose or gain five or 10 pounds, most people— : other than yourself or maybe your significant other—don’t notice. Another thing to keep in The takeaway message? Just dont give a fuck.