“If men can smoke and take shisha; women too should be allowed to do same” – Songstress iOna

So long as males are permitted to smoke openly, women should be able to do the same. Females are being held to a different standard than their male counterparts in society, the singer said.

In addition to becoming a midwife, Iona Reine, born Mercy Sam, has always had a deep love for music.

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“If men can smoke, then women should be able to smoke as well.” This is not out of the blue. “Haven’t you seen women smoking Shisha and cigars in pubs before?” she questioned Christian Agyei Frimpong on Onua FM’s Anigye mmere entertainment and lifestyle show.

Ona feels that Ghanaian culture sets unrealistic expectations on women. There’s no restriction on what males may do.

“The argument is not about whether smoking is bad or not. If it’s bad, then it’s bad for men and women. I don’t understand why we set parameters for girls while boys can do all they want. If smoking is bad, then it shouldn’t be gender based.

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“The Ghanaian culture is such that if a woman asks for sex, she’s branded a bad girl. Those standards for women are wrong. “If a man can smoke, a woman too can smoke,” iOna emphasized.