Labeling Theory Of Deviance In Cosmetics

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Recommended: Sociology chapter 8 deviance and social control

Deviance in Cosmetics
Alyson Luno
SOCI 3501-001
Murphy
University of Memphis

What is deviance? Per Perspectives on Deviance and Social Control, it has no simple definition (Inderbitzin, Bates, and Gainey 2015). Previously, the term deviance had been a "catch-all" rubric for discussing the "Big Four" types of rule or norm violation: crime and delinquency, mental illness and other psychological problems, drug use and addiction, and homosexuality and other sexual misbehaviors (Holstein 2009). However, deviance is anything that violates norms. Norms are rules of behavior that guide people’s actions. Sumner broke down norms into three categories: folkways, mores, and laws. Folkways are everyday norms that do not generate much uproar if they …show more content…

Labeling perspective is deviance that is imposed on an individual or a group that may or may not be related to actual rule breaking. Perhaps the most frequently quoted, definitive statement of the labeling position is Becker's proclamation in Outsiders (1963) that deviance: ... is created by society.... social groups create deviance by making the rules whose infraction constitutes deviance and by applying those rules to particular people and labeling them as outsiders. From this point of view, deviance is not a quality of the act the person commits, but rather a consequence of the application by others of rules and sanctions to an "offender." The deviant is one to whom that label has successfully been applied. Deviant behavior is behavior that people so label (Holstein …show more content…

It was eye opening to see just how much something as simple as makeup would make such an impact on people’s shopping experience. It was probably the most exciting thing to happen in Munford on a Tuesday night. My act shows that although the word deviant makes most people think of horrible people doing horrible things, it is just someone doing something that the normal population does not partake in. My hope is that everyone would live a little and try to do a deviant act, one that is not a criminal offense, even if it does make them

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