sexual deviance

Sexuality is considered such a taboo in cultures of men dominance. Women are represented as the house wives who suppose to be conservative and timid. However, in our individualistic culture freedom of sexuality is not recognized by society when it comes to women going against their role identity. Moreover, women tend to be sexually open because it is a way of expression. In addition, Style and attention can also be confused when it comes to clothing, words and even women ability to be exposed and not have to fear being labeled or called an inappropriate word. The topic that I have chosen is sexual deviance and how it can go against the norms of society in the American Culture. Many cultures view sexuality as a form of translating our feelings, belief and emotions; however, in the American culture it is seen as being distasteful meaning that it goes against society norms of a woman identity role. The reason that this is such a critical issue in American is because women are labeled as being the ordinary wife figure and if she steps outside of that category then it is considered deviant.
According to Durkheim, deviance is considered a pathological conception of individuals living in a collective society. For example, if you have a group of people who are in a homogenous society where religion, beliefs, morals and values are all the same so it would be impossible for anyone to be labeled as deviant. However, if someone comes into their social setting with different religion, beliefs, morals and values they will be viewed as abnormal. In addition, society is considered the enforcers of labeling people who have different beliefs and morals than themselves. The reason women freely expressing their sexuality is considered deviant because the people who create the laws of society are considered reserved. With that being said, if a woman wear anything that is considered too short or to sluttish (exposed) then she is being labeled by others as promiscuous.
In reference, Durkheim stated that “Excess is indeed, undoubtedly morbid in nature. What is normal, simply is the existence of criminality, provided that it attains and does not exceed, for each social type a certain level, which it perhaps not impossible to fix in conformity with the preceding rules.” What Durkheim is implying is that what is considered delinquent is based off of the people in the community views of the activity. For example, Prostitution is a highly discuss topic that most people can agree to disagree on whether this is seen as criminal or prudent behavior. In addition, in many countries prostitution is seen as beauty and a way for a women to express her desires of sexuality. In Poland, prostitution is legal and since it is accepted by society it is not seen as immoral. However, in American prostitution is seen as a negative deviance that is classified as negative evaluation of women who chose to sell their body for a source of income. Moreover, there is a double standard when it comes to women freely expressing their erotic self-confidence than when men do it, because in some religions men are allowed to have many wives and to legally practice polygyny. However, if a woman practice polyandry it would be the biggest criticism and stigmatized as the worse practice ever.
Furthermore, according to Durkheim if crime is not pathologically then why are women being viewed in a negative assessment based off other people opinions of them or their own moral beliefs? People tend to label behaviors and actions as being delinquent when they themselves are afraid to do the same actions. They don’t want to be the outcast so they label something as abnormal so everyone can follow their beliefs and morals. In addition, prostitution is seen as a public prudence that should be forbidden because women are portraying an imagery of disrespect. With this being said, prostitution is only seen as a criminal activity because society rejects it based off their religious beliefs and values. However, prostitution is a form of service woman give upon their own judgments. According to Erikson, understanding deviance goes beyond the boundaries of the community. Because once a person decides to live in a socially functional environment where everybody comply with the rules of the territory is when and only when they go against the rules and cannot relate to others is when they are seen as deviant. For example, if a woman decided to date multiple men she is viewed as loose in a sense that it goes outside of America norms of a woman role. However, on the other hand if a man decided to date several women he is seen as the man and not labeled as the woman might be and this can result her being scorn for her inappropriate behavior. In reference, women may be confused or scared to show their true selves because the fear of being labeled abnormal. In addition, when a activity is being labeled solely off of pathological circumstances then women tend to have identity role confusion based off of what society say is bad and what they are labeling as good behavior for women.