Deviance and Social Control Experiments

An interesting assignment was assigned to us this week, one that I was excited and a little nervous to get started on. Our society is quite dependent on what is “normal.” Normal is following a routine, one that was set only by you and no others. Normal is to dress in what is considered socially acceptable, not garb that would throw you into a social outcast setting. But what happens when you defy these norms and start to step out of the box? At home my husband and I have established a routine that works well for us. Simple chores, such as, loading and unloading the dishwasher and laundry are split equally between us. Another routine that took shape shortly after we were married was where we sat in relation to the television. I sat on the long couch on the middle cushion; he sat on the love seat with the recliner. I have no idea where this tradition came from but I was excited to shake it up. I started sitting in the recliner. No words were spoken about it beforehand; it was just claimed as mine. This behavior merited a few odd looks and that was that. I suppose to think this behavior was odd is to know my husband. The most laid back person I have ever met, he shies away from confrontation on any level. I brought up the subject a few days into the experiment and he simply shrugged his shoulders and said that it was just a place to sit. We have since fallen back into our routine but now we both have an unspoken knowledge that it is indeed, just a place to sit. When it comes to fashion sense, mine falls under classy yet comfortable. I was excited to see that fashion could play a role in this assignment and actually chose to utilize the entire week. Being a stay at home wife means that there is hardly a dire need for me to leave the house. Errands can be accomplished in one day. However, I do enjoy the library and frequent it often, but instead of visiting in casually comfortable clothing I wore a party dress. Not just a party dress but one with

References: Pearson Learning Solutions (2011). Looking At Us: An Interdisciplinary Study of Human Behaviors. 222-276