Deviance and Feminism: Behaviors
In this paper, we shall discuss why feminism is considered a form of deviant behavior. When social conduct is such that it clashes with accepted standards of either morality or social values, then it is considered deviant. Goode (1994) defines deviance as "behavior or characteristics that some people in a society find offensive and that generates--or would generate if discovered--in these people disapproval, punishment, condemnation of, or hostility toward, the actor or possessor" (p. 29). It is very important to understand that deviant behavior need not always be immoral, it can also be strange or queer in nature compared to old and traditional behavior pattern and thus come to be labeled as 'eccentric' or abnormal. We usually study deviant behavior in the context of morally unacceptable behavior but the truth is that any behavior pattern, which is inconsistent with conventional thinking, can be termed as deviant behavior. If we keep this in mind, it would be easier to understand why feminism or feminist behavior has often been categorized as a form of deviance. Feminism today exists in various forms and is characterized by an intense desire of female population of the world to be considered equal to men and thus be given sa
I believe the reason why sociologists have associated feminism with deviance is because it has suffered from lack of both a proper definition and a focused sense of direction. Feminism has tried to enter various arenas and thus is hurting its own objectives. In this connection Washington times (2002) makes a very interesting observation, "A movement, be it feminism or gay rights or civil liberties for the mentally ill, arises - often in response to very real prior abuses, excesses and injustices. These movements promise liberation from ancient evils, but too often end up perpetuating them in mutated form or creating entirely new catastrophes." (Washington Times, 2002) me rights as men in every field. Over the years however, feminism has developed various branches and while some forms of feminism are acute or intense, essentially the underlying principles are the same. In every branch, one thing is certainly common i.e. struggle for equal rights and pride in one's gender. Though on the surface it appears to be a perfectly reasonable and logical movement and one cannot understand why it would be linked with deviance, it is only when we delve deeper into the subject of both deviance and feminism that we get our answers. Thus now we understand why feminism is viewed as a form of deviant behavior. However from our discussion it has also become clear that sociologists need to pay closer attention to the definition of the term deviant. This term has negative connotations which may hurt the cause of feminism when it is categorized in this manner. In his book 'Deviant behavior", Erich Goode has tried to dispel many pre-conceived notions regarding this kind of behavior and has given the following definition of deviance. In other words, while not everyone may find it objectionable, there would be one large section of the society which would consider that kind of behavior wrong and would want to eradicate it to preserve old social and moral values. there are so many forms of deviant behavior, most of which clearly cross lines of morality
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Approximate Word count = 1379
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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