Whether I am seen as a deviant by society is an interweaving and culmination of race, class, gender, sexuality and criminality among other things. One can look at each category and be defined as deviant based on how they fit in that category alone or one can be defined as deviant as based on a culmination of deviance in multiple categories.
Within these categories society’s standards are white, heterosexual, middle-class, male and non-criminal. If measuring myself in these standards I would be defined as more deviant than non-deviant. I identify as white, heterosexual, working-class, female who has been labeled as a criminal. However, each category cannot be looked at by themselves but rather as intertwined. Especially when looking at criminality, as noted by Gilfus, in From Victims to Survivors to Offenders: Women’s Routes of Entry and Immmersion into Street Crime, economics, race, and roles of men in women’s lives, have much to do not only with their entry into crime but their role as subordinates within the criminal world for women. This research definitely supports my experiences in criminality.
When looking at my deviance through the lens of criminality I can use two theories to explain my experiences and my entry into the path of deviance. In some of the ways that I have behaved criminally in the past can be explained by conflict theory (Conflict Theory, Quinney:1975). The law that was being broken went against the interest of the ruling class. Through mass media and organized groups the ruling class was able to propagate that the behavior is problematic and therefore should be criminalized to the masses. The assumption of criminality for engaging in said behavior gains momentum and legislation is then passed. The ruling class defined the behavior as criminal because it went against their interest. Because of the power and momentum of the ruling class I am deviant because I have engaged in behavior that was once considered not illegal but is now illegal because it went against the interest of the ruling class.
Differential association is also a good theory to explain my deviance in criminality (Differential Association Theory, Sutherland & Cressey:1977). Differential Association theory states that crime is learned through intimate group bonds. This learning consists of not only the logistics of a certain crime but also the rationalization and justification of criminal behavior. With differential association theory the excess of pro-criminal behavior over anti-criminal behavior is an important factor as well. This ties into my experiences on how I learned certain criminal behaviors and justified them as not being so bad. I learned these attitudes and behaviors from people who were close to me over long periods of time.
My deviant act for the week was to dress in an odd way in a public space. Context is very important when considering this assignment. What is considered a deviant appearance in one place is not necessarily deviant in another setting. For my setting I chose the Firstenburg public library on 136th Ave. I thought this would be a good balance between a conservative stuffy setting and a bizarre eclectic setting. If I were to go to downtown Portland and dress weird I would not be considered deviant at all. For my dress I chose to dress in sweat pants, a t-shirt with high heels, a large sun hat with beads and flowers as well as sunglasses. I thought I looked quite crazy and actually felt uncomfortable at first. As I walked up and into the library I got a couple of double takes. I walked past a couple of teens who were snickering. As I sat down and appeared to be reading and walked around I got a couple of eye-brow raises. I actually did not get as much attention as I was originally expecting. I think this is because extreme expressions in dress have become a lot more acceptable culturally. Starting with Madonna in 1980’s, and the grunge look in the 1990’s. Of course there is Niki Menage and Lady Gaga of today. All of these have to come together to make extreme expressions in dress as not really deviant. If anything I think it is seen as attention seeking behavior and just shrugged off.
I find your post to be well thought out and nicely executed. I do agree that the rationalization and justifications the people make for their criminal and/or deviant behavior are helped in their development by the group(s) that they closely associate with. Your act of deviance not bringing quite the attention to it that you thought it would is interesting. I think that it is a good sign that people are more willing to respect, if not accept, another person's lifestyle. To do something like you did in the fifties would probably have gotten you thrown out of the library, if you even made it that far before being picked up by the police. Great Job!
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