Let us see, what habits can be called bad? First of all, those that do irreparable harm to a woman's health, destroy her social status, lead to family conflicts and make her children suffer. In other words, social problems, such as smoking, alcoholism and drug-addiction. People throughout the world are subject to these habits, Russia is not an exception.

Smoking. It is common knowledge that nicotine does mach harm to the woman's looks and health. Still, not every woman can curb the nicotine addiction though there exist a great number of methods to fight it. Sometimes russian women justify their smoking by saying that it seems to keep them from getting stout. At the same time, it has been proved that the female organism is injured by smoking to a greater extent than the male's one. The most horrible feature of the Russian reality is that the number of smoking girls and women is increasing while the number of smoking men has dropped, thus indicating their genuine interest in the healthy way of life.

Why does a russian woman smoke knowing what it will result in? Let us name the most typical reasons:

- a desire to look like her female friends;

- an orientation on the western cinema woman-hero type;

- a way to fight extra kilos;

- a way to relax;

- a desire to look cool;

- a desire to have equal right with men.

Alcohol addiction. It is much more dangerous than smoking. As a rule, it takes a woman less time to become a habitual drunkard than a man, and her treatment is more difficult. In Russia drunkards traditionally evoked resentment and women-drunkards were uncommon. Nowadays a sight of a drunkard irritates but, alas, doesn't shock anymore. A mother drunkard means grief and suffering for children, uncozy home, family quarrels and a divorce. There is a proverb that shows the people's attitude towards a woman-drunkard: "If husband abuses alcohol - half of the house is on fire, if wife abuses alcohol - the whole house is on fire."

What leads a woman to this fatal habit?

- Loneliness;

- genetic inclination;

- problems at work or in the family;

- close friends and relatives-drunkards.

Drug-addiction. This is a relatively new problem for the Russian society, that appeared and began its proliferation about ten years ago. That is why it mostly concerns teenager girls. Women of 30 and more years old have learnt about it by hearsay, as a rule, or from the experience of their children who started taking drugs. But whatever the case, we must say that drug-addiction affected only a small portion of the feminine population of Russia.

Overeating. Perhaps the russian woman's habit to eat much nutritious food should also be classified as one of bad habits, because its consequence - obesity - doesn't add to the woman's beauty and health. Russian history knows periods of universal starvation, they may account for the conviction shared by most Russian people that tasty food means rich, sweet and abundant food.

Labor-addiction (obsession with work). No less harmful, in my opinion. Is the habit of many russian women to deprive themselves of rest. Very often russian women devote their weekends to labor-consuming household duties: washing, cleaning or working in the dacha. The desire very characteristic of many russian women to shoulder all housework, thus freeing the husband and the children from it, results in overstrain, neuroses and other more grave disorders. russian women tend to forget about themselves. You can come upon a case of a forty-year-old woman sacrificing her own interest to those of her children from objective money considerations, but mostly because of her maternal love.

Please don't think that the habits described above are typical and immanent of the Russian character. Most russian women abstain from bad habits or overcome them successfully. I dare to assure you that the russian woman is naturally more virtuous than vicious.

Index: Chapter 1: Russian women types Chapter 2: Russian women and the social structure of Russia Chapter 3: Russian women and religion Chapter 4: Russian women and culture Chapter 5: Russian women and education, profession Chapter 6: Russian women and standard of living Chapter 7: Russian women and make up, clothes Chapter 8: Russian women and health Chapter 9: Russian women and nutrition Chapter 10: Russian women and house, housekeeping duties Chapter 11: Russian women and money Chapter 12: Russian women and leisure, hobby Chapter 13: Russian women and nature Chapter 14: Russian women and achievements of technology Chapter 15: Russian women and harmful habits Chapter 16: Russian women and getting acquainted, courting Chapter 17: Russian women and love for a man Chapter 18: Russian women and wedding Chapter 19: Russian women and sex Chapter 20: Russian women and her husband Chapter 21: Russian women and children Chapter 22: Russian woman and her relatives Chapter 23: Russian women and family problems Chapter 24: Russian women to beware of Enclosure: A List of Works by Russian Classics You May Want to Read to Understand the russian woman