The last two years of high school were probably the most memorable, and the most life changing out of the four years I attended a small high school north of Vancouver. I had just discovered a love of punk music and culture, was figuring out my orientation, and I'd stopped being shy and become outgoing and relatively popular in my small high school (graduating class of 33). It was a conservative school, and most people there identified as white, christian or mormon, and straight.
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| They were pretty much these folks, but more conservative. |
I came out towards the end of high school, but can still remember my reputation with part of the school was as a lesbian drug dealer. Even if I was popular and had friends, that label stuck. Despite never having attended a stereotypical high school party, I was labeled a deviant, a party girl, a bad influence, or at the very least, troubled. Labeling Theory, according to Becker, explores theory that a person who falls outside a society's agreed upon ideas of how a person should behave is labeled as deviant.
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| More my crowd. |
I clearly fell outside my society's expectations, and thus, was a deviant. And much like Becker states in his definition of Labeling Theory, "Treating a person as though he were generally rather than specifically deviant creates a self fulfilling prophecy." (p.41) I made new friends outside of school, who were into partying, and were more than willing to enable me to join them, though I was underage. I found people who identified themselves as a deviant, similar to what I had been identified as. Differential Association Theory, which per Sutherland and Cressey, in short, is defined as criminal behavior being influenced by associating oneself with other criminals, also cemented my status as a deviant. To clarify, I am responsible for my own actions, and the poor choices I made throughout my senior year and the summer following, but when the last month of school rolled in, I was dangerously close to not graduating, and had an out of control social life.
So am I a good example of how Labeling Theory and Differential Association Theory work? Would Reintegrative Shaming Theory eventually save me? According to Braithwaite's Shaming Theory, Reintegrative shaming means "expressions of community disapproval… followed by gestures of re-acceptance into the community of law-abiding citizens." In my personal experience, embracing my deviant status (sexuality and appearance), but correcting my poor behavior and possibly illegal behavior did improve my life. Upon learning I was a college student with a full time course load and a full time job, people were more willing to smile at me and look past my nose ring and loud taste in music. Exhibiting some non-deviant behavior with my deviant appearance perhaps has made me a less threatening deviant. Today, I may have pink hair, tattoos, and be out of the closet, but I'm also married, working on a Bachelor's degree, and I no longer wear copious amounts of hot pink eyeshadow.
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| I've learned about moderation, finally. Mostly. |
While I may have modified my beauty routine, I still very much love make up and other stereotypically feminine beauty routines. However, I have noticed that people will treat me differently based on how my make up is done, if it is done at all. The less effort I put into my appearance as a woman, the less positive attention I receive. People at the Nordstrom counters will not fawn over me if I come in wearing my sweats and no make up. However, if I show up completely made up and neatly dressed, I receive all the service I could want. Appearance does matter. So for my small act of deviance, I chose to apply all of my make up in public, and see how people reacted.
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| Spoiler: It went like this, followed closely by disgust or laughter. |
I stationed myself in the bathroom of the mall, with all of the products I planned on using in my big make-up bag.
A couple of teenage girls who wandered in stared and giggled behind their hands at me while I was putting on my concealer and foundation.
Most of the moms with kids really didn't seem to notice or care what I was doing. They were busy with their kids, and when one little girl did ask what I was doing, her mother seemed content to just say I was putting on my make up and went on with her day. No issue.
An older woman shook her head in disgust as I was putting on my eye makeup and huffed her way out of the bathroom. I'm not sure why she was so disgusted with me putting myself together in public. Unfortunately, I don't wake up every morning looking like I do by the time I arrive at my destination. I'm confident no other person who wears makeup and styles their hair using hair spray wakes up looking that way either. However, it genuinely seemed to bother her that I was putting myself together in public.
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| That face. |
I've learned it's ok to touch up your lipstick in a public bathroom, but not showing up ready to go earns snickering, stares, and huffy attitudes. I didn't get in anyone's way, I wasn't hogging a sink. My actions affected virtually no one, but it definitely was uncomfortable to wonder how people would react to me and if anyone was going to outright chastise me for my behavior. I'm used to people making comments about my hair and piercings, about my sexuality, about my gender. I feel like I know how to react and handle responses to my every day deviance. However, it made me feel very vulnerable to even think of trying a deviant act I didn't know how to defend or respond to. I didn't know how I would explain why I wasn't putting on my makeup at home; I didn't know if I would lie, or expose my homework project. While I ultimately was not asked to explain my actions, I knew upon performing the experiment all I wanted to say to the women I encountered was, "Why does it matter where I put on my makeup? It's not like I'm fooling anyone, no one has naturally glittery eyelids. Why do you care?"
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| Couldn't we just be happier if we stopped worrying about the norms? |
Word Count: 1286
Sources:
Thio, Alex, Thomas C. Calhoun, and Addrain Conyers. Readings in Deviant Behavior. 6th. (Boston: Allyn & Bacon, 2010. P. 27-29,37-41)
Contained:
Becker, Outsiders, Studies in the Sociology of Deviance (The Free Press, 1963)
Braithwaite, Crime, Shame, and Reintegration (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1989) pp 55-56
Cressey and Sutherland, Criminology, 9th ed. (Philidephia, PA: Lippencott, 1997) pp 77-75
Photos:
Jenna Marbles (Screen Shot)
Agreed! Again, let me say I couldn't agree with you more than if i had written this post myself. Although deviant in a different way than you, I also made questonable choices as a way of trying to make a statement of who I was out of frustration of being treated just a little differently than everyone else for not being a clone of what society expects. Because of how I look, act, talk, how I was raised, and my socio-economic status as a poor kid, I was tossed right into the category of the delinquent who was up to no good and would never amount to anything, because that was expected of a kid like me. I am definitely a tasty treat for the labeling theory as well; just for the simple fact that I have always seemed to be stereotyped and judged by whats on the surface and not everything else about me. Everyone just assumes I just must be a product of a crappy environment which must be the reason I am so damn deviant (Becker, Labeling Theory). I know how it feels to be different and to be judged because of it. Excellent post, very well written and clearly organized. You get your point across in an interesting way that will definitely keep people reading to the very last word. Keep up the good work, and always be yourself! To hell with anyone who doesn't like it!
ReplyDelete-Amber Dawson
Works Cited
Becker, Howard. "Labeling Theory." Readings In Deviant Behavior. Alex Thio, Thomas C. Calhoun, Addrain Conyers.
I completely agree with you! While reading your post, I couldn't help but remember how many times I have sat in my car and fixed or reapplied my make-up, and been looked at as though I was sitting in my car naked. Reading your post, it was very easy to reflect back to when I came out in High School, and how immediately everyone acted as though I had changed as a person, as well as my values and beliefs. According to Howard Becker, "...Deviance is not a quality of the act the person commits, but rather a consequence of the application by others of rules and sanctions to an 'offender'".
ReplyDeleteThis statement stood out to me even more after reading your post, as it is very true. As labeled deviants, it is almost impossible to socially be seen as more than the sum of our parts, and we have to work twice as hard to gain acceptance.
Your post is very well written and your statements/arguments are well supported.
Becker, Howard. "Labeling Theory." Readings In Deviant Behavior.P. 39. Alex Thio, Thomas C. Calhoun, Addrain Conyers.
@Amber It's a frustrating system to try and fight against when no matter what you do, you're still that stupid master status! The old "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em" kind of seems to hold true in that it's harder to fight everyone thinking you're that status than to just play the arbitrary role, but NO MORE! It sucks you've gone through that too, but it's good to know we're not alone in that, right?
ReplyDelete@Miriam I've done the same thing in my car and that's the best way of putting it! It is so hard to be out at any point, especially high school. It's amazing when you come out to people how it changes the relationship, be it for better or worse. Somehow it means your morals disappear and it's ok to ask about your sex life, right? I agree, we're working twice as hard to be that same full value that's impossible to achieve. It's time for society to reevaluate what we value in people.
Thanks ladies :)