SOCI 210: Sociological perspectives

Agenda

  1. Administrative
  2. Discussion:
    violating social norms
  3. Social stigma
  4. Queer theory

Administrative

Synthesis essay 2

  • Due today at 11:59pm

A note on references/styles

  • Essays do not need to comply with any formal style guides (e.g. cover pages are not necessary)
  • Essays should use parenthetcial in-text citations and have a reference list at the end
  • For a short essay, this usually means making sure the author and year are listed the first time a text is mentioned
    E.g. "Mahtani (2002) studies the experience of …"
    (Subsequent metions of Mahtani would not typically need a year)
  • When completing peer assessment, focus on the existence and relevance of references rather than their format.

Violating social norms

Social norms often function as a form of social control, but the degree of enforcement is not always the same. Some norms are only loosely enforced, with violations occurring commonly. Others are treated more seriously can evoke extreme repercussions for those who break them.

  1. Individually: Think of two examples of social norms, one that typically has minor consequences for violation (e.g. embarassment or short-therm exclusion) and another that has major consequences (e.g. regular harassment, social exclusion, or state-sponsored punishment)
  2. In pairs: Discuss your examples and one of each type to post to the "Norms and norm violations" whiteboard on Teams.
  3. As a class: We we will discuss the dynamics of some of these norm violations.

Social stigma

Photo of a man's back. there is a large sticker that says REJECTED stuck to his back

Sociology of deviance

Black and white photo of a person in 1970s/80s punk style, including a shirt that says 'THE MISFITS' and a spiked collar with an image of a skull

Violations of social norms

  • Sociology of deviance is concerned with behavior that violates norms, or what is considered “acceptable”
  • Rather than focus on stability of social expectations, sociology of deviance examines places where those expectations are transgressed

Types of deviance

  • Deviant behavior is a very broad category
  • Small violations that cause little more than mild discomfort
    e.g. standing “too close” to someone while talking with them
  • Subcultural behavior that may be accepted within but not outside of a community
    e.g. Goth or Furry subcultures
  • Taboo behavior that is socially ‘forbidden’
    e.g. homicide, cannibalism, incest, arson, …
    (though consider, e.g., death penalty, police/military
    violence, or deliberate property destruction by state)

Stigmatized identities

“Spoiled identity”

  • Erving Goffman theorized stigma as a social process of labelling based on perceived difference
  • Based in interaction (negotiation) rather than any specific behavior/trait
  • Inability to make a credible claim to an ‘acceptable’ identity

Identity management

  • “Strategies” for managing stigmatized identities
  • Covering: hiding or downplaying stigmatized traits
  • Flaunting: highlighting a trait to challenge its stigmatization
photo: two feet on a bathroom scale

Stigma and power

Power dynamics

  • Stigma management is tied to social power structures
  • Those with more power are more easily able to manage stigma
  • Economic capital can help with covering a stigmatized trait (e.g. healthcare, prosthetics, lawyers)
  • Cultural and social capital can mitigate the negative effects of stigma, and may facilitate flaunting
walk into mordor meme. top text: 'One does not simply'. bottom text: 'get a job with a criminal record'

Stigma is intersectional

  • Stigma is mediated by social status
  • E.g. alcohol consumption by a wealthy person versus an unhoused person
  • E.g. multiple sexual partners for a man versus a woman
  • Intersecting identities of race, gender, class, disability, age, language, etc. determine the labelling and consequences of stigma

Queer theory

Vintage woodblock print of a skeleton carying a torch that says 'anarchy' and a sash that says 'communes'. The skeleton carries a large banner that has been edited to say 'be gay do crime!'

Queer theory

A woman with gaudy makeup and hair in an impractical red dress in a field. She holds a pistol, aimed at something out of frame. (Divine from Pink Flamingos, 1972)

Queer theory (QT) “can be summarised as exploring the oppressive power of dominant norms, particularly those relating to sexuality, and the immiseration they cause to those who cannot, or do not wish to, live according to those norms. In analysing the power of ‘the normal’, QT contributes to a politics and ethics of difference.”

Nancy Harding (2011)

Harding, Nancy. 2011. “Queer Theory.” In Key Concepts in Critical Management Studies, edited by Mark Tadajewski, Pauline Maclaran, Elizabeth Parsons, and Martin Parker. 1 Oliver’s Yard, 55 City Road, London EC1Y 1SP United Kingdom: SAGE Publications Ltd. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781446289013.

Queer theory in sociology

Interaction

  • Emphasis on the social constructions of categories like gender and sexuality
  • Dominant norms (heteronormativity) are negotiated and resisted in the day-to-day
  • Importance of language & symbols in normative change
A person with face cropped out of photo holds up a small whiteboard on which 'hello my pronouns are' is written, followed by two blank spaces to fill in Black and white photo of a protest march. A person in the front with an afro holds up a sign saying 'GAY PRIDE'

Conflict

  • Normative categorical distinctions reinforce social inequalities
  • Heteronormativity creates systemic oppression
  • Active, organized, and persistent resistance is necessary to subvert normative structures

Stigma and deviance

  • Sociology of deviance examines how societal norms are constructed and enforced, and how those labels are used to stigmatize individuals and groups
  • Queer theory emphasizes active resistance to societal norms and values, particularly through the defiance or flaunting of stigma
  • Queer theory offers a critical perspective on the construction and enforcement of societal norms, emphasizing the importance of promoting social change and inclusivity
A vintage photo of a man in a leather jacket. The jacket has the following text in large bold letters: IF I DIE OF AIDS - FORGET BURIAL - JUST DROP MY BODY ON THE STEPS OF THE F.D.A.

Image credit

Photo of a man's back. there is a large sticker that says REJECTED stuck to his back

Photo: Kevin Trotman via flickr

Black and white photo of a person in 1970s/80s punk style, including a shirt that says 'THE MISFITS' and a spiked collar with an image of a skull

The Misfits (1980) via thefoundimage.com

photo: two feet on a bathroom scale

Photo by i yunmai on Unsplash

Vintage woodblock print of a skeleton carying a torch that says 'anarchy' and a sash that says 'communes'. The skeleton carries a large banner that has been edited to say 'be gay do crime!'

Original art by Thomas Nast, alterations via Reddit

A woman with gaudy makeup and hair in an impractical red dress in a field. She holds a pistol, aimed at something out of frame. (Divine from Pink Flamingos, 1972)

Still from Pink Flamingos (1972)

A person with face cropped out of photo holds up a small whiteboard on which 'hello my pronouns are' is written, followed by two blank spaces to fill in

Photo by Alexander Grey on Unsplash

Black and white photo of a protest march. A person in the front with an afro holds up a sign saying 'GAY PRIDE'

Photo: Fred W. McDarrah, via The Guardian

A vintage photo of a man in a leather jacket. The jacket has the following text in large bold letters: IF I DIE OF AIDS - FORGET BURIAL - JUST DROP MY BODY ON THE STEPS OF THE F.D.A.

Photo of David Wojnarowicz via The Guardian