In the past, smoking was vehemently looked down upon in more traditional parts of the Kingdom such as Riyadh and Qassim. In fact, smokers would be ostracized in their communities and banned from contacting neighbors. Although such attitudes have ceased to be the norm, the sale of cigarettes in some areas of Buraidah continues to be prohibited.

“I don’t mind my wife smoking at the moment. But this will have to change when we have children. It’s necessary for a mother to be well during pregnancy to ensure the baby is also healthy,” said Saudi photographer Dhahi Al-Ali.

“I also wouldn’t want her to continue smoking even after giving birth because our children would be with her all the time and I don’t want her to set a bad example for them,” he added.

According to Ali bin Khaldoun, a 34-year-old schoolteacher, Saudi society looks down on women smoking. “Our society doesn’t accept women behaving weird or strangely and this includes smoking. They see smoking as a tool of seduction that actresses use in inappropriate films,” he said. “Since smoking is unnecessary in the first place, why do it?” he added.

Saudi women, however, say it is their right to smoke and that no one should stop them. “My parents do not agree with me smoking so I do it secretly. I’ve never understood why they are so strongly against it when they are both heavy smokers,” said Nada Dahab, a 21-year-old college student.

“They always say that it’s shameful for women to smoke in public because people in our society look down on such women; even my mother only smokes at home,” she added.

People in Saudi society are so much against women smoking that many Saudi men refuse to marry women who smoke. “I can’t stand the smell of tobacco at all and I can’t imagine myself being with a woman whose hair and breath smells like cigarettes,” said Abdulnasser Lary, a 26-year-old banker. “I think that after a while her lips will turn brown and her teeth will become damaged. I want my wife to look beautiful and smell like roses all the time,” he added.

“I was once approached by a man who wanted to marry me after his mother saw me at a friend’s wedding,” said Ghadeer Hassan, a 24-year-old graphic designer.

“I really liked the guy up until he asked me if I smoked, and when I told him I did he told his mother he didn’t want to marry me … I won’t quit smoking for anyone because I believe it’s my right to smoke and I really don’t care what other people think of me,” she added.

Ahmed Saleh, a 65-year-old retired policeman, said 40 years ago people frowned upon men who smoked, but the habit has become common over time. “Back when I was in my 20s I remember it was unusual for men to smoke. My father used to punish us for it. Now my son smokes in front of me and I can’t do anything about it,” he said. “I never saw women smokers back in the days when I was young, but I now see them everywhere holding a cigarette in public without any shame. Times have changed but I still don’t agree with women smoking; it’s such an unpleasant thing to look at and makes women look like men,” he added.

Recently-published statistics show that the number of women smokers in the Kingdom have increased dramatically in the past 10 years and that 25 percent of women under 25 smoke. The number of female smokers between the ages of 25 to 35 have also increased to reach 26 percent.