Looking Deviant? Flashcards
(27 cards)
Why is physical appearance important?
We judge others appearances
Others judge our appearance
Perceptions of deviant appearances change over time = differ by context
Voluntary appearance –> result of choice
Involuntary appear –> limited/no choice
Blurred boundaries of voluntary and involuntary over time and place
What are ways to cane our appearances?
Body projects Camouflaging Extending Adapting Redesigning
What are body projects?
Ways we adapt, change or control our bodies
What is camouflaging?
Normative processes (we learn this through socialization)
What is extending?
Overcoming physical limitations (wearing contacts or using a cane)
What is adapting?
removing or repairing ( for aesthetic or medical reasons. Weight loss, laser hair removal
What is redesigning?
reconstruction (plastic surgery, body peircings or tattoos)
What do bodies tell us?
Objective - characteristics of the person ( bodies tell us characteristics of people. Age, sex, SES, academic performance assumed personality)
Subjective - characteristics of society, relationship, and self (they tell us about self, how we come to understand ourselves broader society)
What are gendered norms?
Men desirable ( muscular, fit, tall, clear skin) undesirable trait ( baldness, flakiness, small penis size, lankiness)
Women desirable ( thin, thin legs, firm but, clear skin) Undesirable ( short hair, muscular, small breasts, overweight
What are some racial variations in appearance norms?
Milkie
- White girls read Seventeen or teen magazine
- Black girls read ebony or essence
- criticized the unrealities of red white girl images in the magazines
- less negativity affected by the narrow body image than white girls
- defined themselves a being outside the dominant culture
What are some noteworthy body projects?
Body modification - tattoos -illustration of change over time Body size and weight - pervasive in medicine.media, education, commercial, industry, daily interactions
What are body modifications?
Lengthy history
- 5000 years old iceman with tattoos
- early Christian era –> religious affiliation
- European colonization –> primitives
- 1950s –> working class masculinity and subculture
What so modified bodies tell us? (objective side)
Characteristics of the individual:
1) risk (are at risk, or like to engage in risk)
2) motivation
- aesthetic
- pursuit of identity
a) social identity
b) individual identity
What do modified bodies tell us? (subjective side)
Understanding of the self through interaction
Dramaturgical approach
- front v back stage self
Impression management
What is the deal with women and tattoos?
Construction of the gendered self
- established femininity
- > increase sex appeal to males
- Resistant femininity
- > contradict hegemonic ideal
- Negotiated femininity
- > source of liberation but concealable
What is straightedge tattoos?
Tattoos as ideological messages
- symbols of lifestyle declaration
-symbols of pacification
-symbols of indictment
Tattooing as means of control over ones body
(Resistance to hedonism
enhance physical purity and control over one’s body
Less self serving
XXX as a straight edgers symbol
declaration of what is wrong with society - ZOMBIE NATION
pain signifies the control)
Gang tattoos: Symbolism and consequences
Sends a message that they are loyal to the group but sends a negative message to the community, family, police
Tear drop = body count
What is the ideal body in scientific standards?
based on health risks
BMI
More likely to be an evaluative criteria for females then for men. Medical field is based in health risk. Harm notion. Is your body weight and size indicative of harm>
What is the canadian experience with being over weight?
World wide: 1.4 billion adults Canada: -67% of adult men -54% of adult women -32% of children More people are overweight than underweight in Canada and the world
Is childhood obesity child abuse?
Child abuse: not always active harm
Can be associated with neglect
- state/legal interventions
-women: blames
Child and mother stigmatized
Socioeconomic restrictions
What is the causation of anorexia and overweight?
Overweight - combination of individual and social factors. (people assume it is a very simple reason. but they don’t look at why people eat more calories)
Anorexia
-Ego-psychological theories ( imparted psychological function on the child mother relations)
- Family system theories( facilitated by really over controlling families)
-Endocrinological theories (look at hormonal defects and how they affect anorexia)
-Sociocultural theories( social norms that emphasis thinness)
What is muscle dysmorphia (bigorexia)
Mostly affects males Disordered fixation on gaining body mass More common in men than anorexia Multiple negative consequences Increasing media pressures on men to be muscular and lean - Higher rates of depression -lower levels of self esteem - higher adherence to masculine norms
What are negative perceptions of “too fat”?
Surveys reveal stereotypes and dislike
- adults, children, teachers, nurses
Female media bodies have become thinner
Male media bodies have become more muscular
What is social control of “too fat”
Media --> lose weight fast! Commercial industry --> pills and powder Medicalization --> prescriptions, surgery Government--> fat tax, tax deductions Communities --> recreational facilities
