Physical Appearance & its relation to deviance
- When someone has a “deviant” appearance, this can lead to a difference in treatment
What is looked for in physical appearance
- We are more likely attracted to ppl who are in line with our cultural ideals
- Basically all social interaction is subject to your appearance
Voluntary Appearance .vs. Involuntary Appearance
Voluntary appearance - Your appearance is any result of choice
↳ you may be associated with a certain lifestyle
Involuntary appearance - Limited to no choice in your appearance
- There is somewhat of a blurred line between the 2
remember burka example
Cultural Appropriation
- The adoption of certain elements of another cultre wthout regard for their history or meaning
↳ JB having dreadlocks, ppl got angry
↳ Beyonce wearing a saari
What do Bodies Tell Us? - Obj .vs. Sub
Objective - Body tells us who you are, personality, intelligence
↳ puts the person under a microscope
Subjective - Bodies can tell us about identities, self-expression, how ppl understand themselves
↳ Put society under a microscope
The Halo Effect
- People who are “good looking” are better people
↳ Thinner & more attractive ppl are seen to have better self control, intelligence - Strangers are more likely to help good looking individuals
- Attractive workers tend to have a higher income than not attractive ppl
- They are also less likely to be found guilty
Beauty standards are learned through media
Racial Variation in Body Image
Body Image - Comprises one’s thoughts, feelings and behaviours related to one’s physical appearance
- In NA the white body is considered superior
- Depending on where you live will dicate how you adheere to NA standards
↳ heavily based around culture
Changing Our Appearance - 4 ways
1) Camouflaging - everyday ways we control the appearance of our bodies
↳ makeup, clothing etc
2) Extending - Overcoming physical limitations
↳ improved function of your body (i.e. glasses)
3) Adapting - removing or repairing
↳ weightloss, lipo, braces
4) Redesigning - reconstruction of body in lasting ways (boob job, tats, piercing)
↳ Broken into 2 catgories as to why we do it:
1) They may change the function of our bodies
2) They can modify the appearance of our bodies
Ruling on Body Modification
- How it was seen was dependent on who was in power
- Significant variation in acceptance
↳ Body mods were seen as savage and less developed by European colonizers
↳ The old testament condemned people from modifying their bodies
Objective Side of Body Modifications
Body Mods tell us about the psychology of the person
1) Risk - assumed to be more at risk (have faced abuse, troubled back)
↳ Social Control efforts - society believes youths doinf body mods are at risk, doctors should look at the risk factors these people are exposed to
2) Motivation
- Aesthetic
- Pursuit of Identity
↳ Social Identity - who you want to be grouped with
↳ Individual Identity - how you wannt to express yourself as an individual
Subjective Side of Body Modifications
Subjective Side:
- Body modifications are not from identity, but the social interactions around us
Interpretive Theories:
- Understanding of self through interaction
Goffman’s Dramaturgical Approach - Subjective
- Goffman put emphasis on how you construct you front & back stage self
↳ The determination of where your tats/piercings are placed
↳ If you want smthg to be in your front stage what group are you showing it to
↳ Think Huberman and his tats
Women & Tattoos
- Women with tats are stigmatized
↳ presumed to be heavier drinkers & more promiscuous
↳ observer matters because men view women with tats more negatively than women do
3 Types of Tattoos for women
- Contruction of the gendered self
1) Established femininity
↳ women seems more womanly not always sexualized
2) Resistant femininity
↳ Oppose gender expectations
↳ Women get these as a form of resistance to men
3) Negotiatied femininty - source of liberation, but concealable
↳ Women want to be liberated with these tats
↳ NOT association (like resistance), smaller and hidden
Straightedge Tattoos
- Tats as ideological messages: Resistance to percieved hedonism and self indulgence in our world
1) Symbols of lifestyle declaration - Improve self & society as a whole
↳ emphasis on physical purity
2) Symbols of pacification - no crime
3) Symbols of indictment - critisize the wrong in the world
