From our Sister's in Cuba.....
to the North American 21st Century Woman....
to our Sisters of the Leaf across the Pond.....
The phenomena of breaking into the "Old Boy's Club" far outreaches the limitation of the North American Woman. The history of the Cigar, its culture and allurement; its attraction and communion, is not regulated by geographical boundaries. Take for example....
Cuba's cigar sisterhood
ON an island where folks normally don't buck the system, Zudlay Napoles is breaking an unwritten rule:she is a woman and she smokes cigars. "Not only does Napoles love to light up her favorite Romeo y Julieta No. 4: the diminutive 31-year-old has become the face of Cuba's cigar industry for countless international visitors."
In Cuba, women are part of cigar-making in every step of the process, the final taboo has long been smoking them, Napoles said. "Even girlfriends of my generation look at me strangely and say,'You're going to smoke that? And the smell?' I tell them that it tastes good," Napoles said. "Once you enter into this world," she added, "you don't want to leave."
Napoles is known as a "sommelier" or wine steward at La Floridita, a restaurant that supposedly served Ernest Hemingway's favorite daiquiri and is now a tourist spot. A trained and knowledgeable wine professional, Napoles helps customers match each cigar with the perfect after-dinner drink.
Napoles gives cigars respect, and even affection. After her shifts at the restaurant, she and her male co-workers serve splashes of cognac and other drinks, and then experiment with companion cigars.
As Napoles put it: "The Cuban cigars, since their formation, are inthe hands of women. They are built with the muscles of women.
"In reality, they already have the female heat, the female touch.
"Now all that's left is overcoming this taboo of smoking."
Source: Travel News
"It may be surprising to learn that for a growing number of British females, happiness really is found in a good cigar. Manufacturers,retailers and industry analysts say a small but rapidly growing number of women are choosing to indulge in a classier, more leisurely smoke."
Our Sisters across the Pond are lighting up and joining each other in the cause to become more of a fixture in Britain's Cigar Culture. Industry statistics show women accounted for 6.3 per cent of cigar sales in 2004, up more than half a percentage point in a year.
"'We have seen a rise in women coming into the shop, particularly women buying cigars for themselves and not as presents for a man,' said William Kutscher, of James J Fox & Co, cigar merchants in St. James's, London. 'They think it is a healthier alternative to smoking cigarettes and there's a certain kudos to it.'
.......
A spokesman for the Gallaher Group, manufacturer of Hamlet cigars,said there had been a 'small but steady' rise in women buying cigars since 2000, and manufacturers hoped for a jump this year.
The trend is thought to result from the patronage of A-list celebrities such as Madonna, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Kate Moss and Sadie Frost " and most recently Victoria Beckham, pictured puffing on the yacht of the fashion designer Roberto Cavalli " together with a feeling of 'anything the guys can do ...' (Women have also caught up with men in the port-drinking stakes, according to supermarkets.)"
Source: The Independent
Not surprisingly, the unification of Women who love Cigars reaches outside of our comfy hamlet, known as North America, and should include our sisters throughout the globe. It amazes me as I continue on this journey, how intensly the picture unfolds. I hadn't quite expected such a large scale that would encompass my research. But as I dig deeper, and my interest and love for the cigar seasons into a passion, I uncover the underlying thread which stitches our cause together - regardless of GMT...
Its the struggle of the Woman, the bare necessity of her being - and just as history would reveal, the Cigar Woman is another evolution of her independence.
and it has been for my independence, I so selfishly undertook this project, and fell in love with my passion....
Damsel....
Cigars4Women - Won't you join us?