seeing the deviant in our society

In our very structured society, the idea of deviance is one that helps define our world view as a whole.  Outside influences shape what we come to believe as normal or abnormal, or deviant.  A simple way to define that which our society deems deviant is to pay attention to those who are constantly made fun of or even downright persecuted because of who or what they are.

While traveling to San Antonio the other day, I happened to catch a glance of the television show “Mike & Molly.”  In this show, the title characters are two rather large people.  After landing, I checked online to view some of the older episodes of this show.  I determined while watching previous episodes that the show is basically a 22 minute “fat joke (http://www.cbs.com/shows/mike_and_molly/).”  By constantly making fun of fat people one could infer that the idea of being overweight in our society is an example of deviance.  However, this thought process is not entirely correct as the media has a powerful influence on what we consider abnormal.  That model you see in the Victoria’s Secret ad? She is 5’10” and weighs 112 pounds.  The average American woman? Six inches shorter, yet weighs 23 pounds more (http://www.ehow.com/facts_4574358_victorias-secret-models.html).

The issue of size came up again during my travels, when caught a flight from Denver to Portland with Greg Oden on it.  Greg plays center for the Portland Trailblazers.  I hesitate to say “plays” as he has been injured and hasn’t logged actual playing time in over a year.  Nearly every person in the airport was staring at this behemoth of a man.  I was as well, as he stands at seven feet tall and weighs 285 pounds (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greg_Oden).  While getting on the plane I overheard him commenting about how “he cannot fit into the seats in coach.”  This man is so large that he must book first class tickets any time he travels by air.  This got me thinking about how we as a society attempt to fit people into certain “ideals.”  As Greg is obviously larger than the average man, we instinctively alienate him; hiding behind our stares and hushed whispers

Unfortunately, in our society, most judgments aren’t kept in quiet tones.  While in Texas, I was a part of a group of disabled veterans attending an adaptive sports camp.  Now, in the military we always talk a big game and constantly throw insults at each other; mainly directed at one’s manliness or sexual orientation.  Looking back at my years spent in the Air Force, I honestly cannot even fathom the amount of times people have been called a faggot, cocksucker, homo, queer, etc.  I threw around and received these derogatory terms as well.  By using language this way, we as a society illustrate our perception of homosexuals.  We constantly degrade and humiliate them, in an attempt to show that they are second-class citizens.

In regards to second-class citizens, I also noticed an interesting bias towards disabled people.  A few of the veterans I was with were constrained to wheelchairs as a result of being wounded overseas in Iraq or Afghanistan.  Every where we went these men were under the constant gaze of others.  It was quite obvious to me, the quiet observer, that being disabled is definitely not a societal “norm.”

While my trip was a good one overall, it did make me think of these ideas of deviance and how we perpetrate them through the generations.  I believe the majority of these ideas are passed down through individual families and permeate outward into society.  As an example, I will leave you with this photo and question: Who is the deviant? The homosexual or the church member?

WC: 619