Final rewrite of Blog Post#1

I'm a Sight Unseen

I have chosen my first blog post to rewrite for the final. I chose this post because I received the worst score so why not make another attempt at a hard topic. I feel that I have a way better understanding of the term deviant now than three months ago.

Many have made imprints on my life. If someone takes my life and throws it through a social filter they will see that I was raised by two straight, Caucasian, middle class, married of 30+years parents. I have two brothers and we were all raised in a drug, alcohol, and cursing free atmosphere. My questions to you is why do we socially share our ways. Why do we filter data, images, opinions, and details of our daily lives? This socio-mental filter is what guides our understanding. It's just like a lens in a camera, what one can see with an image in front of them can change when it is placed on a piece of paper. Why do we alter how an image appears? What is it about our society that makes this change acceptable?

So how does one perceive me? Can you visually perceive someone? I was born in this world with an "empty" mind. The world was what we could perceive it. A perfect imprint of empirical reality. My world has been changed by my experiences with others. Many people struggle with the different labels they are given throughout their lives. Labels place people into categories like nerd, jock, dumb blonde, bible freak, and so on. These labels are examples of what society has created. Society has built a system that helps people have a better understanding of what they consider deviant and normal. Labeling helps this structure and these values are passed on generation after generation. These labels help us police each other, “Social groups create deviance by making the rules whose infraction constitutes deviance, and by applying those rules to particular people and labeling them as outsiders” (Becker 39).

When you walk into a room with people you know, what is your emotional reaction? How about if you walk into a room and you don't know anyone. Will your reaction be the same? Most of us know that the answers are different in many ways. With our society we can label individuals as deviant when they haven’t committed a deviant act, “some people may be labeled deviant who in fact have not broken a rule” (Becker 39). This reminds me of a first impression. To have a social interaction with a person, we need to know how to talk to them. For example if one tries to speak to an individual who they don’t know if they are a male or female then the social interaction will different because the mind is focused on the persons gender. Our society doesn’t know how to treat people that have been labeled deviant and this can form grouping patterns. This brings me to the question of what conversations are okay in the presence of friends, family, and co-workers. Now, the way I speak in front of a friend is not the same as when I talk to my mother. Why is this?

This week I have been viewing each conversation from a different angle. I have always known that what I say to people always varies by who is in the room but the realization has changed many views on things. Now looking at the daily conversations with these individuals I have really seen how inappropriate and "Deviant" they can be. To me this is my "norm" and with my friends and co-workers they intermix. Two of my closest friends are my bosses or have a "higher rank." These personal associations can influence an individual’s behavior, “The person’s associations are determined in a general context of social organizations” (Sutherland 28).

Since labels have all these negative associations it creates a system of fear. People are so afraid of being labeled that they instead try to distance themselves away from this feared difference. The fact that as a society we dehumanize, demonize, stigmatize and so on has helped create these different categories of deviance. When people realize that what they say is inappropriate they will sometimes turn them into "inside jokes." Jokes that are still inappropriate to us but the average person would never guess and this helps cover up the inappropriate topics. And these topics aren't inappropriate to the people talking about them but instead this method is a way to cover up a deviant act. This is a very important detail that co-insides with my other job.

As a female firefighter I work in an all-male testosterone filled work environment and they never say anything that is appropriate. Organization is a big thing in the fire service and, “Much of social life is organized and routine, and many of our interactions take place within organizations” (Wharton 86). The fire house is a socialized atmosphere and they all think it is funny to see people’s reactions to each other’s jokes. When reviewing fire history one will read that these jokes are known as coping mechanism in regards to the many different calls medical or fire related that are run and sometimes don’t end well. I have seen more in one day then the average person will see in a life time. These boys are my family and these jokes are only said when we are within closed doors. The main comment that is pasted around is "I'm not racist, I hate all races equally." Is this right? It’s a different way to view the idea of racism and it pushes the ideology that focusing on only the black and white, which simply doesn’t represent all races. This reminded me of the differential theory and how groups influence/teach each other, “The principal part of the learning of criminal behavior occurs within intimate personal groups” (Sutherland 27).

Do you partake in labeling? Labeling is done at a cultural level because our society has set impossible standards. We all feed into the vicious cycle and give these labels power. The example below is a video of Katy Perry a famous musician that did a skit on Sesame Street. She wanted to play dress up with and then sang her song “Hot N Cold” with the famous Sesame Street character Elmo. As you can see the skit was very simple. But parents across the United States were very upset that Katy's breast were showing and that her dress was simply to short. Now, after watching the video I saw nothing inappropriate and in fact my three year old nephew loves it! But the media is a big influence on people’s lives and Sesame Street ended up pulling the show/skit in regards to the viewer’s requests.

The video below is one example of people questioning the reasons behind the show being pulled off the air. It point out that it is a kid friendly show. They talk about how the children are following Elmo and enjoying all the bright colors. It also spoke about how the children have no distention to why or how this video is controversial and instead this is just a conflict with the parents.

Then you have the classic video called 'Charlie Bit My Finger' which is about two brothers sitting in a chair. The older brother Harry decided to put his finger in his younger brother month. The younger brother then bit the finger and the peer entrainment of 56 seconds one can see the reaction. This film has over 449,790,848 views on youtube.com and is very funny might I add. But the interesting thing about this video is how much coverage it had from the media. I saw it on every news show for weeks even Oprah had Harry and Charlie on her show. This video was labeled funny and cute. But what if this was two adult brothers sitting in a chair and one bit the others finger. Would the label be different?

Oldspice is a brand of shower gel that has been around for years. The company started to advertise with “The man your man could smell like” campaign. These advertisements where directed toward a female audience. This advertisement style has changed how the media advertises. But this commercial below is an example of how society views the ideal man. This shows how society assumes this common value system towards groups that violate the norms. This brings up the question of “Why do men differ in their beliefs about what constitutes good and desirable conduct,” (Hirschi 31) and the assumption that the male is in this dominating group. 

This hierarchy of gender enforces those beliefs of able bodied individuals. The idea that every person in a wheelchair wants to be able to walk is a myth. Society creates these filters that allow these ideas to happen and then reinforces them with videos like below which make fun of a disabled body. This adds to the stigma. The film below is about a horse that only has two legs. It is a 'retarded' horse and when you listen to the music you can see how demeaning it truly is. But maybe it’s okay not to walk because one can still have a very fulfilling life. People like Mark Zupan challenge the stigma of being disabled.

So in the end what is deviancy? Who is deviant? What makes them deviant? I'm not going to sit here and say I'm not deviant but in comparison to others I'm not. Why am I able to compare myself to others. Growing up in a society that offers less to people that have a deviant behavior has created an individual that fears breaking the norm. The strive to perfection is an incredible journey but not very piratical. Why is it that our society has set standards that are too hard to reach by the average joe?

This leads me into the pictures above. Religion is always a tough topic to speak about but religion has many ties into society consideration of fornication. The social norm of abstinence before marriage used to be considered normal but now it's abnormal, “you got to try it before you tie it,” are many jokes that are said in regards to getting married. Now, classifying this behavior as deviant would make people feel uncomfortable so instead society has now taken the behavior and made it acceptable. It is an encouraged and even desired behavior. A thing that most religions like to consider an deviant act is pornography. This is a topic that almost everyone has partaken in durning some point in their lives but it is consider 'dirty'. I don't know a single man that has ever told me he has never seen porn but this can be because women have been more sexualize in our society than men.

So what is deviancy? It is a word that has evolved over many years. It can be used to label people as a rule breaker or different from the daily norm. But the term will always be around even though as a society we have evolved and developed a sense of tolerance for many human behaviors. For example almost half the population participates in divorce. How as a society can we consider this deviant when it has slowly became the norm? We may not look at it as a deviant behavior but instead we can view it as a social problem.

Word Count: 2013 (barely made it!)

Citations:

YouTube. YouTube. Web. 27 Apr. 2012. <http://www.youtube.com/?tab=w1>.

Wharton, Amy S. The Sociology of Gender: An Introduction to Theory and Research. Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub., 2005. Print.

http://crimeanddeviance.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/CH08figure1.png
Thio, Alex, and Thomas C. Calhoun. Readings in Deviant Behavior. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 2001. Print.

Howard S. Becker. "Labeling Theory." Readings in Deviant Behavior. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 2001. Print.

Sutherland, Edwin H., and Donald R. Cressey. "Differential Association Theory." Readings in Deviant Behavior. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 2001. Print.

Thio, Alex, and Travis C. Hirschi. "Control Theory." Readings in Deviant Behavior. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 2001. Print.

Union NUDE$...

Bad Girls like Good Contracts

Live Nude Girls is a documentary film that focuses on stripper’s situations and their fight to form the first stripper union through their experiences at the Lusty Lady. This is a better insight on the sex world and the working conditions. This group of woman opened the door for many other females to come. The main focus of the film is on a woman named Julia Query. Julia made a decision to leave graduate school and start stripping. She is a Stripper/Comedian that helped create the first union of exotic dancers in the United States.

Most of the women working at this location are going to college or supporting their families. The performers at the Lusty Lady have children to raise and tuition to pay, and the claims they make aren’t extravagant: job security, paid sick days, a safe working environment. These female performers work at the Lusty Lady where their clients sit in a booth and receive a peep show. The girls are in a big room that was described as a fish bowl. The working condition within this peep show was better than similar venues which put pressure for illegal contact. Performers at the Lusty Lady were given no sick leave, salary reductions, and ethic-minority scheduling by race, hair color, and breast size. 

Some of the windows onto the peep show stage where one-way mirrors which allowed customers to secretly videotape the workers and these videos could show up anywhere even the on the internet. Also, before these women started to unionize they were being routinely fired and discriminated.

The women fighting for the union went on strike after management fired an employee ‘Summer’ because they claimed she broke a rule. When the ladies picket-line chant was, “2-4-6-8, don’t go in to masturbate!”  Most of their loyal customers supported the ladies and didn’t go in. Management then did a lockout as an attempt to scare the girls. This didn’t work and they later met the demands and allowed Summer to gain her job back.

This film followed Julia Query through her fight and struggles with starting the union. It showed an insight into Julia’s comedy and why she chose to become a stripper. The film also showed her telling her mother she is a stripper. Julia’s mother is a well known doctor that helped start/run a program for prostitutes and was in shock when her daughter told her about being a stripper. Julia grew up with very strong Jewish traditions and her mother couldn’t understand where she went wrong.

This film relates to the course work in many ways. I feel that it has given me a better understanding and appreciation of these performers. This subject is very hard to talk about in society because society likes to keep strip clubs as their dirty little secret. But traditions like the bachelors party is normally involved with strip clubs, having lap dances, and drinking. This is The Mans last chance to be free before he falls in the stereotypical roll of the husband in a monogamist relationship.

Something that I disagreed with was how Julia could stand up and tell everyone that she was a stripper but when it came to talking to her mother she couldn’t. I feel like she held a feeling of shame and dishonor because she was being deviant. In the end her mother still accepted her chose but simply didn’t agree with it.

Riot Acts

Tara Caldwell

March 8^th, 2012

Extra Credit

Riot Acts: flaunting gender deviance in music performance

Riot Act is a documentary film that focuses on the lives of the transgender community and there influence on music. They argue the social norms of what makes it a true all girl bands and also cover the perception of a rock band. They show the judgment that is placed on these individuals’ but it also covers their life goals and challenges. It covers the not only their gender experiences but also their stage performances. It talks about how there is a transition with not only their physical body image but also their voice. This shows the independent musicians and bands in the transgender stories during their transition and musical influences.

This film is talks about as much as being on the road as being a transgendered artist. Having personal testimonies of their transition and how the hormones affect each individual differently. The film also covers the fact that the research on these hormones and their affects are almost unknown. Many of the musicians were scared to take the hormones because they didn’t want to have a change in their voices that would affect their musical dreams.

This film really relates to the course by showing that this “other” section is bridging the gap in society and helping make some changes. They are taking terms that have been used to demean their community like “tranny” and using them in a new way. They have found that they may be different to these social norms but are they really different. The film also covers how the community supports each other and how these bands play in “safe” environments because there is still that fear of having a violent act placed on them because they go against the social norms. 

The personal experience of viewing the film from an individual that is not in this course. In the course we have heard many stories and been shown a little of the LBGT communities language. I found that many of the questions were based from confusion with some of the terms and the community’s language. They also were amazed by how these individuals have transitioned and how if they met these people in public there would be no question to their gender role either FTM or MTF one could simply not see this. One thing about music is that helps pull people together. The film expressed that the change in gender role is a challenging experience but is so beautifully interpreted in this documentary film. We feel that these individuals are helping society rethink gender and sexual orientation. 

Straightlaced

Tara Caldwell

March 01, 2012

Extra Credit

Straightlaced: How Gender Got Us All Tied Up

     This is a documentary film that was produced in 2009. Focusing on how society places the pressure on gender and sexuality of teens. The film shows how expectations and hemophilia have been interwoven into society.  The film discusses about how hard it is to go against the rigid gender roles. The roles of gender affect how the youth are not only having trouble with in their social environments but also their gender roles affect them hen entering the workforce.   

     This film showed how homophobia in American schools remains unsafe for many young people. The youth in today’s society that choose to go against the social norms are victimized because they do not match the dominant social norms. This affects these individuals by creating a dangerous social and emotional well-being.  Straightlaced shares stories of many U.S. high school students who speak about their experiences in a very powerful way. They speak about their experiences with gender, sexuality, and homophobia. This film covers the relationships with peers and teachers and they answer the questions about gender identity.

     Focusing on how the gender role doesn’t always fit clearly fit into a box. It also talks about how it is society have decided that there are two genders but nature has shown us there are many more. Many of the individuals interviewed either identified as male or female but it also focused on how society feels like there are only two choices in gender.  The film shows how gender roles have been interwoven in culture, race, and class. They touched on the social mantra of “you’re hiding in the closet?,” and how many of the individuals expressed that is wasn’t a closet but instead it is more like a prison. The personal testimonies of the painful experiences with their social environments and how its personal friends that have helped influence them to feel safe in these hazardous social environment that they are forced to deal with daily.  The youth honesty wants to be heard and trusted. They spoke about how these individuals were sexually harassed and their experiences with antigay harassment. They disclosed how they were close to teachers and adults but these individuals would never stick up for them. Some individuals had to file lawsuits to protect themselves.

     Straightlaced is a film that shows a gender lens into the lives of adolescents across America. The film serves as a powerful introduction to the social environments which the individuals had not only emotionally experience but intellectually as well. This film shows how consistent and committed gender, sexuality, and safety in schools are and how its overlooked by the adults but instead the voices of the youth.  The film touched on how in society girls feel like they need to dumb down so they don’t intimidate boys and how boys need to show that they are sexually active to prove that they are not gay. The relentless bullying is on the non-conforming teens that say the ultimate insult is being called gay. This film has come out at a time where teen suicides are running rapid because of the unhealthy and dangerous impact that they have to experience from their gender role change in life.

     This film showed how homophobia in American schools remains unsafe for many young people. The youth in today’s society that choose to go against the social norms are victimized because they do not match the dominant social norms. This affects these individuals by creating a dangerous social and emotional well-being.  Straightlaced shares stories of many U.S. high school students who speak about their experiences in a very powerful way. They speak about their experiences with gender, sexuality, and homophobia. This film covers the relationships with peers and teachers and they answer the questions about gender identity.

Focusing on how the gender role doesn’t always fit clearly fit into a box. It also talks about how it is society have decided that there are two genders but nature has shown us there are many more. Many of the individuals interviewed either identified as male or female but it also focused on how society feels like there are only two choices in gender.  The film shows how gender roles have been interwoven in culture, race, and class. They touched on the social mantra of “you’re hiding in the closet?,” and how many of the individuals expressed that is wasn’t a closet but instead it is more like a prison. The personal testimonies of the painful experiences with their social environments and how its personal friends that have helped influence them to feel safe in these hazardous social environment that they are forced to deal with daily.  The youth honesty wants to be heard and trusted. They spoke about how these individuals were sexually harassed and their experiences with antigay harassment. They disclosed how they were close to teachers and adults but these individuals would never stick up for them. Some individuals had to file lawsuits to protect themselves.

      Straightlaced is a film that shows a gender lens into the lives of adolescents across America. The film serves as a powerful introduction to the social environments which the individuals had not only emotionally experience but intellectually as well. This film shows how consistent and committed gender, sexuality, and safety in schools are and how its overlooked by the adults but instead the voices of the youth.  The film touched on how in society girls feel like they need to dumb down so they don’t intimidate boys and how boys need to show that they are sexually active to prove that they are not gay. The relentless bullying is on the non-conforming teens that say the ultimate insult is being called gay. This film has come out at a time where teen suicides are running rapid because of the unhealthy and dangerous impact that they have to experience from their gender role change in life.

       Focusing on how the gender role doesn’t always fit clearly fit into a box. It also talks about how it is society have decided that there are two genders but nature has shown us there are many more. Many of the individuals interviewed either identified as male or female but it also focused on how society feels like there are only two choices in gender.  The film shows how gender roles have been interwoven in culture, race, and class. They touched on the social mantra of “you’re hiding in the closet?,” and how many of the individuals expressed that is wasn’t a closet but instead it is more like a prison. The personal testimonies of the painful experiences with their social environments and how its personal friends that have helped influence them to feel safe in these hazardous social environment that they are forced to deal with daily.  The youth honesty wants to be heard and trusted. They spoke about how these individuals were sexually harassed and their experiences with antigay harassment. They disclosed how they were close to teachers and adults but these individuals would never stick up for them. Some individuals had to file lawsuits to protect themselves.

Straightlaced is a film that shows a gender lens into the lives of adolescents across America. The film serves as a powerful introduction to the social environments which the individuals had not only emotionally experience but intellectually as well. This film shows how consistent and committed gender, sexuality, and safety in schools are and how its overlooked by the adults but instead the voices of the youth.  The film touched on how in society girls feel like they need to dumb down so they don’t intimidate boys and how boys need to show that they are sexually active to prove that they are not gay. The relentless bullying is on the non-conforming teens that say the ultimate insult is being called gay. This film has come out at a time where teen suicides are running rapid because of the unhealthy and dangerous impact that they have to experience from their gender role change in life.

      Straightlaced is a film that shows a gender lens into the lives of adolescents across America. The film serves as a powerful introduction to the social environments which the individuals had not only emotionally experience but intellectually as well. This film shows how consistent and committed gender, sexuality, and safety in schools are and how its overlooked by the adults but instead the voices of the youth.  The film touched on how in society girls feel like they need to dumb down so they don’t intimidate boys and how boys need to show that they are sexually active to prove that they are not gay. The relentless bullying is on the non-conforming teens that say the ultimate insult is being called gay. This film has come out at a time where teen suicides are running rapid because of the unhealthy and dangerous impact that they have to experience from their gender role change in life.

Gender Code

Gender Code is a documentary film that explores the way the body is presented in the media through advertising. It looks beyond the “norms” about masculinity and femininity that is communicated to society. The film covers the importance of gender, power, and how it is reproduced and reinforced by the culture.  This film takes modern advertisement mainly focusing on the poses of models.

Males and females are governed by codes and rules that have been submerged into our culture for many years, the way we walk, our body postures, our emotions, and our sense of normal. The film enforces that the culture has entirely constructed, assigned, and taught these gender roles. Because these codes are reinforced it brings up the films arguments of, “There is nothing natural about gender identity” (Goffman).

The film covers how society photography is controlled. Men are placed in more powerful positions and women are placed in more subjected positions. Using familiar model’s stances like the bent-knee or contorted torso, to an array of different physical cues, and neck-bends. Also, the film placed men in female poses which I found interesting because they looked silly like it was a joke. 

This film relates to the course work in many ways. It challenges society’s social norms and show us a new path. It helps broaden the spectrum in which masculinity and femininity is formed. My friend found that the men in the more feminine poses weren’t weird to him. He asked if he should be concerned about this as if he it made him question his masculinity. He said that seeing these females and males in the same poses isn’t weird because it’s art/ just a photo. I found that interesting but I have always felt female models poses are weird and when seeing a male in these poses it really through me off. This film really broadened my views of advertisement within our culture. 

orchid

Orchid is a documentary film on intersex. This film started out about a female who grow up knowing she was different. It wasn't until she was 13 that her parents told her that she was intersex and she went in for surgery. After finding out what made Bonnie Hart different she started to enbrace that side of herself. She broke the family secret and found out that her little sister had the same secret. The idea of these sisters going through such a tramatic stage in their lives and never being able to talk about it is very challenging to think of because they didn't know what the other was going through.

Hart did research online about AIS her condition and found others that were having the same experience. She talked to them online and over the phone. The documentary is about her journey to meet all these intersex individuals and hear their story. She even found out that one of her school teachers that help influence her life in the film industry was also an intersex individual.

This film relates to our class because it covers how society feels what our "norms" are and who fall within the spectrum. Hart didn't need the surgery but because she was different the doctors felt she needed to fit in a "box" being female or male only. Hart was different but at the time the social enviroment was telling her that was a bad thing. Hart is unable to bare a child but was able to adopt. She is living a wonderful life w/ her baby and husband. On the out side she fits what society views proper but on the inside she is different because she has a deviant body.

Know I have brought my friend shawn to every movie in the film series. When I first started this course I told him about intersex but didn't go into detail. He was still curious about what intersex was so he found this film very interesting. He was happy that Hart found a male partner that could look past societies perceptions about she her being different and loves her for who she is. He didn't understand why the mother couldn't talk to her daughters about there conditions but he did notice that their father was very accepting of his daughters, just loving them for who they are. The mother was very depressed and close-minded about speaking to her daughters, even at the end when she begain to open up she was still upset speaking in a negative way.

WSU Drag Show 2012

  On Thursday, March 29th, 2012 WSU held a drag show. This was my first experience of a drag show. Now, on our way to the show we got into a little fender bender unfortunately but that didn’t stop us from going to the show.  The environment was upbeat with smiles and laughter throughout the audience. It was a wonderful experience watching people sing and dance. Also, you can forget the tips and how all the proceeds where going to such a great event. 

  
  The show reminded me of a middle school talent show. Maybe it was just the backstreet boys or the energetic atmosphere but the for sure thing is that this event wasn’t PG ☺. Drag is a different form of art. I sat in the back row because I arrived a little late like normal and unfortunately almost all seats where taken. The only thing I didn’t like was that it was hard to see over all the bobbling heads. So sitting or standing on the chairs was what I had to do but the show was great. I wish I could of stayed for the dance show but I had an eight am class so we left after the show.  I enjoyed every performer. The more crowd involvement the better I felt they were. The couples (Amanda and her partner) I felt were the best! They did an excellent job and I loved the song choice. At first I didn’t get why it was the same five performers but as the show went on I got excited to see what performer was next and finding out their song choice. All I can say to the people who couldn’t go is that you all will regret not going next year!   
  
  You can relate this to our class work because it gives to you a better view of the LGBT community. The performers didn’t match the “norm” of society and are considered deviant for being who they are. It really gives the extra push on our society to broaden our definition of normal. I feel that WSU is going in the right direction by having the Drag Show and then next week having gender-neutral bathrooms. This class has really helped me broaden my norms and I’m proud to be part of these experiences.