New Deviance DIRECTV Commercial

I just saw this commercial tonight and thought it would be an interesting example of social deviance in the media with the use of "undesirables" as a point to drop cable and buy DIRECTV. It is also a perfect example of Sutherland and Cressey's Differential Association Theory; showing that deviance can be a socially learned behavior, in this case from her father.

What is Deviance?

What is deviance, that is the question. It is a question that comes with no easy answer. Who and what is deviant will greatly vary by person and situation. As presented in class by Professor Williams, the social constructions of deviance vary by location, time, context, and person (Williams 01/17).  Deviance is generally those who’s most easily observable characteristic, or master status differs from the accepted social norms of a specific population. It is generally not hard to realize who are what is considered deviant; one needs only to observe the world around them. Many of the observed deviant actions that I have recently observed have occurred on outings with my girlfriend and take place in location where people commonly gather and interact with each other.

One of the more interesting things that I observed took place last week when we were going out to dinner. We went to the Mongolian restaurant close to where we live. For those unfamiliar with how a Mongolian restaurant works, it is a buffet setting where you would grab some bowls to fill with raw ingredients that in the end are cooked in front of everyone on a large grill. The norm that I noticed was that everyone was always taking at least two bowls to fill with ingredients, just as I had done on my first time that night. I went back to get some more food, but this time only filled one bowl with ingredients. It seems ridiculous, but I was getting some funny looks from some of the others filling their bowls. They were not aware that I was coming back for some additional food so filling only one bowl seemed out of place. This just goes to show how little a thing can be to be deviant. Another thing that I noticed about deviance occurred in another restaurant.

This happened today when we went out to lunch at a 1950’s themed dinner. What was observable made it easy to notice what was missing. In the section of the restaurant that we were eating in they had the covers and pictures from 40’s and 50’s magazines up on the wall. In these photos everyone was young, beautiful, and white. This comes as no surprise when taking into account these magazines were from a time when many places were still segregated. This goes to show that what is deviant can vary by time. Today it would not seem out of place for a person of color to be on the cover of Time or some other popular magazine. Although, race is still a real issue in society today, such as seen in how people reacted differently to a group of white and black kids doing the same actions.

Taken from http://www.partselect.com/JustForFun/Top-Vintage-Christmas-Ads.aspx

An action that has seemed not to vary much overtime was also observable today; I also personally see this as deviant. We both went to see the new Sherlock Holmes movie. While there we were sitting close to a group of teenage girls. They were rather loud during the previews and we were worried that they would continue to be loud during the movie. This is even with it being shown at the beginning of movies that it is wrong to be disruptive during the movie. They ended up not being disruptive during the actually movie, but it goes to show that everyone can make rush decisions that can be proven wrong.

Taken from http://animatedtv.about.com/od/artpictures/ig/-South-Park--Pictures/Terrance-and-Phillip.htm

The final deviant act actually occurred while writing this blog entry. While writing this Braniff Production’s South Park has been on in the background. The episode that was on was all about differences between the sexes and a bodily function.(The Wiki article about the mentioned episode) What I was noticing as being one the most obviously deviant act in the show is being a Canadian character. They are animated very differently and many jokes are made at their extent. This just goes to show that deviance can greatly vary by context.

There is no universal answer for what is deviant. For some of the smaller issues, that were largely the ones addressed in this blog, it really varies from one act to another. The easiest way to know what is deviant largely comes from what is observed in the media and what ones peers have socialized through sanctions.

Works Cited

1. Notes from class 01/17/2012
2. First Photo: http://www.partselect.com/JustForFun/Top-Vintage-Christmas-Ads.aspx
3. Second Photo: http://animatedtv.about.com/od/artpictures/ig/-South-Park--Pictures/Terrance-and-Phillip.htm

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