Chapter 5 - Dress and Society

Chapter 5 Violation of norms

Judge dresses down man over T-shirt 

A young man showed up for a court hearing wearing a obscene T-shirt. “It was inappropriate, to say the least,” according to the judge. The man tried to make a joke out of it but the judge considered the shirt openly contemptuous and stated the man should have known better. “It says on the summons that proper attire is required.”

Questions to answer   

Why are dress norms violated? What are some specific examples of dress norm violations? How can dress norm violations vary?

Violation of norms 

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Based on the assumption that a society or group agrees on some norms from which an individual’s behavior can deviate Deviant behavior is dysfunctional    

Makes social life unpredictable Causes confusion about norms and values Undermines trust about people’s behavior Diverts resources to control the behavior

Reasons for norm violation 

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Culture change Location Transmission Values and motives Physical conditions Environmental conditions Demands on resources Temporal incompatibilities between statuses Normative system itself Internalization

Culture change 

Refers to modification of norms at different periods of time

Culture change

Location Geographical locality  Different parts of the country have local norms that apply to dress  For example, California-casual 

Transmission    

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Not all individuals receive Comparable instruction Equivalent contact Consistent examples Regarding appropriate and inappropriate dress And consequences of norm violation

Gender-role socialization Boys and girls socialized differently with regard to dress norms  Boys do not receive the same training about aesthetic rules that girls do  Boys less knowledgeable about dress norms, thus,  Boys more likely to violate dress norms 

Gender-role socialization

Gender-role socialization

Masculinity—defined as what it is NOT Not feminine  Effeminate—a male who is similar to or imitates the behavior, appearance, or speech of females  Changes in cultural views of masculinity  Metrosexual—an urban male who has a strong aesthetic sense and spends time and money on his appearance 

Metrosexual male

Stereotypes about cultural categories    

Different social positions (age, gender) Different contexts (historical, social, cultural) Lead to different interpretation of norms Stereotypes are resistant to change

Frame transformation Refers to a process whereby  groups take a negative concept (e.g., white trash)  and try to turn it into something positive  in order to create a sense of belonging and pride  E.g., hippie chic 

Consequences of norm violation Newspaper articles  Other mass media  Report examples of sanctions daily  Not everyone is equally exposed to the examples  Mass media—means of communication designed to reach the general population 

Report of consequences of norm violation

Agencies of socialization Conflict is unavoidable  School vs. family – contradictory purposes  Church vs. adolescent peer group  Families vs. mass media  Conflict within a single family 

Conflict between socialization agencies

Attachment to significant others Significant others—parents, teachers, peers  Help children accept conventional norms  Anticipated disapproval of others  Lack of proper socialization—not influenced by “What would people think?” 

Socialization

Secondary group socialization   

Peer group socialization Distinguish group by deliberate violation of conventional norms Norm violation a way of expressing allegiance to a group

Values and motives Different values, different motives = different ideas of the legitimacy of norms  Motive: That which causes an individual’s action  Choice between personal and collective values 

What caused her to wear socks with sandals?

Conformity to fashion norms Gain friendship and approval  Reduce fear of ridicule and disapproval  Maintain or increase security  Boredom leads to restlessness  Search for uniqueness, individualism, novelty, to escape boredom  Adopt new and innovative fashions 

Normative socialization theory Behavior is response to sanctions  Traditional environment – rewarded for conformity to conventional dress norms  Non-traditional environment – rewarded for non-traditional dress 

Non-traditional dress

Gang Group of people, usually young, who band together for purposes generally considered to be deviant or criminal by the larger society  Gang members—reject conventional dress but conform to gang dress code 

Members of Crips gang What is the gang dress code?

Physical Conditions Bodily state over which an individual has no control  Inability to meet normative demands  Old, asymmetrical facial features, physical disability, large bone structure  Violate norms of being young, slim, beautiful, and perfect 

Old age is a physical condition

Bodily states that present obstacles Facial features—plastic surgery, makeup  Disabilities—jeans, shoes do not fit  Wheelchairs—barriers  Color blindness—inherited  Blindness 

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Stereotypes contribute to obstacles

Bodily state that presents obstacles

Environmental Conditions 

Ecological state such as   

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Temperature Humidity Precipitation

Professional dress in warmer weather

Demands on resources   

Time, money, energy Lack of sufficient resources Competing demands— food vs. clothing

Prom: Demands on resources Extravagant display of consumerism  Reflection of social status  Fashion faux pas – mistake – to wear same dress to a prom as another girl  Exclusivity and fit—important attributes of a prom dress  How to pay for the prom 

Temporal incompatibilities between statuses 

Unprepared to make a change from a status at one life stage to a later status   

Psychologically Socially Technically

Transition to a succeeding status involves inherent difficulties  Pre-teen to adolescence; adult to old age 

Transition from young adult to middle-age

Adolescence Early adolescence—ages 12-18  Late adolescence—ages 18-22  Emerging adulthood  Lingo—specialized set of terms requiring that it be learned like a language  Jargon—language used by a particular group  Fashion Maven—an expert in fashion 

Age-appropriate dressing for adolescents?

The normative system itself 

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Some norms are uncontrollable elements of a situation in which an individual must try to conform to other norms Concurrent but competing statuses result in role conflict Role strain—roles associated with a single status are in opposition to one another Social role—standardized set of expectations Gender roles vs. occupational roles

Role strain? Role conflict?

Internalization   

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Adoption of others’ attitudes, beliefs, and values, either consciously or unconsciously Norms become a part of an individual’s motivational system Committed to norms as being “right” Not all people internalize cultural norms Resistance to norm violation—commitment to norms and an ability to justify to the self the moral reasons for not deviating

Norms become a part of an individual’s motivational system

norms as being “right”; refuse to buy fur