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"Smoking fetish" videos worry MSU researcher

By Mark Bashore, WKAR

http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wkar/local-wkar-925977.mp3

EAST LANSING, MI –
A Michigan State University researcher is shedding light on an
exotic segment of the internet that she and some others find disturbing. In it, women---usually young and often provocatively dressed----appear in videos and ritualistically smoke cigarettes. MSU Professor Hye-Jin Paek worries the videos may be a new hurdle in efforts to control tobacco use among young people. WKAR's Mark Bashore has more on the bizarre world of "smoking fetishism."

Fetishism is defined as the compulsive use of an object or non-genital part of the body that triggers an erotic response. Some of the better known fetishes involve feet or footwear, hair and role-playing. For some, it's cigarettes and the act of smoking. MSU communications professor Dr. Hye-Jin Paek is part of a team that recently studied "smoking fetish" videos on You Tube. They found over two-thousand.

"Basically, it's almost half-naked and almost aggressive, so to speak, sexual content with smoking behavior of inhaling and then focusing on the lips and a very kind of succulent image of sex," she explains.

Paek worries about the prevalence and accessibility of the videos to millions of young people. Given YouTube's growing popularity, she worries the videos could be a setback for tobacco control efforts.

"About 143-million unique viewers go to You Tube every day and watch videos," she says. "And the big proportion of the target audience is teenagers."

Dr. Paek says the number of smoking fetish videos is growing rapidly. In the future, she says stricter government regulation of what she calls "pro smoking" content may be desirable. But she says study of the phenomenon is in its infancy and more research is needed to measure its impact. For 90.5/WKAR, I'm Mark Bashore.

Melissa Ingells:
And Mark joins me now in the studio.

Mark Bashore:
Hi Melissa.

MI: At the risk of sounding prurient here, tell us more about what one
sees in a "smoking fetish" video.

MB: Many on You Tube are simply a close-up shot of usually a
20-something woman, intently, sometimes artfully, smoking a cigarette. There's a lot of "play" with the smoke--smoke rings, massive clouds of smoke floating about open mouths. There's a real element of exhibitionism and performance in a lot of them. In her study, Dr. Paek used Motion Picture Association of America standards and found about 60-percent of the You Tube videos would earn a PG-13 or R rating.

MI: But You Tube isn't the only place online that smoking fetishism
exists, right?

MB: Hardly. There are many, probably hundreds, of smoking fetish
websites where the videos are often more sophisticated and pornographic. Dr. Paek doesn't advocate that You Tube starting rating its videos. A You Tube spokesperson explained in an e-mail that their policy prohibits pornography, and underage smoking. Often they ARE just shots of young people smoking. Dr. Paek is simply skeptical about the fact that its SELF-regulating. And again, the sheer number of them is growing so rapidly, that's a concern. She says her larger aim is to make tobacco control experts aware of the spike in this kind of content on the web.

MI: Is there any discussion of stricter regulation of these videos?

MB: There appears to be very little, if any, at this point. Dr. Paek
and her colleagues appear to be at the heart of what little study and
discussion there is. In fact, I spoke with one group--the Campaign for
Tobacco Free Kids in Washington--and they admitted these videos were completely off their radar.

MI: Thanks, Mark.

MB: Sure, Melissa.

Related links:
Paek MSU News Release

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