September 23, 2007

Deviant Act in Public

Deviance can mean many different things. Some people believe that it is someone going against what is morally right and others feel whoever does not share the same beliefs as them is deviant. For this assignment I worked with Leah Feldman and we took two different approaches to performing deviant acts in public. While she took the approach of holding one of our mutual friends, Sarah’s, hand to portray a lesbian, I took the approach of doing something people are told not to do by warnings on the orange carts in The Home Depot. Both acts received very different reactions being that they were two completely different acts.
The first act performed was holding hands in public. Leah held our friend’s hand and walked up and down the isles of Price Chopper. This was to express homosexuality. Some people believe homosexuality is deviant, wrong, and not acceptable. Being accepting people Leah and I thought it would be funny to see people’s reactions. This act might be, considered by some, embarrassing, where the one I performed was just silly. She made sure that she walked up and down the isle with feminine care products to see what people thought and she also walked through the rest of the store hand in hand with Sarah. Some people stared at the two of them with a look of pure disgust. Young boys stared with a look of fantasy, old men stared in shock, and old women stared not really knowing what to think. Probably the funniest reaction the girls got was from a young male cashier. He goes to Siena, however we do not know him by name. When they exited the store hand in hand the look on his face was priceless. At first, he looked at them like they were weird and then was fantasizing.
It was really interesting to see the different reactions of people. I did not hear anyone make any remarks, but I am sure there were whispers after the two girls passed through the isles. It is funny how repulsed some people are of others’ sexual preferences. Some people believe that lesbians and gays are deviant and in the wrong for feeling the way they feel; this is because it is different from what they believe.
While Leah’s act was doing something against the “social norm,” my act was simply something one is not suppose to do. After going to Price Chopper, we drove to the Home Depot. There I took one of the large orange carts, not shopping baskets, into the store and had our friend Ashley push me while I was sitting on it. Leah watched. I waited until I got into one of the isles so I would not get in trouble right away. Once Ashley started pushing me, we made it almost halfway down an isle before someone in an orange apron came over to reprimand us. Everyone ran away because they were scared of getting in trouble. I sat there while the employee told me that I should know better than to do something like that. He also pointed at the warning sign on the cart and told me that what I was doing was not funny. I tried to keep a straight face while I was reprimanded and after I apologized, got up, and walked away. Doing something that one knows one is not supposed to do is also considered deviant behavior. Apparently, children are injured all the time riding around on those carts; hence the warning label.
The major difference between the two acts that Leah and I performed and witnessed is no one will reprimand her for her act because people are scared, embarassed or not accepting of homosexuality. They will just stare to try and make a couple feel uncomfortable. I am sure if we stayed in the store long enough, someone would have blurted something out. Some people believe homosexuality is wrong, not normal, and deviant, but most will keep their feelings to themselves in public or they will whisper back and forth with whoever they are with. Riding around on an orange cart, also draws attention, but discipline will be enforced. Someone will yell or firmly speak to the perpetrator. These two acts are completely different from each other, but it is interesting how doing something wrong that is not different from others’ beliefs will get a person in trouble, without any discomfort or embarrassment, but going against the “social norm” and standing for what one believes in will receive stares in order to make the couple feel uncomfortable and stop their actions.