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Rachel Bacchus

Dr. Kristen Clayton

Intro to Sociology

6 March 2019

Breaking a Social Norm

Society is held together by the written, or more often unwritten, rules that we create.

These rules keep societies organized and functioning by holding individuals to a certain standard.

We call these rules “Social Norms”. Sociologists Troy Duster and Jeff Manza describe social

norms as part of everyday life: “Every society, even those with elaborate written rules and

criminal codes, inevitably has an enormous number of unwritten rules of behavior that

individuals have to master in order to avoid appearing deviant” (2016:406). When a social norm

is broken, societies usually do not know how to react, and sometimes they may react in negative

ways. I intend to break a social norm in order to observe how much these norms influence human

behavior and interaction.

I chose to violate the norm of formal dress code in traditional churches. Instead of

dressing up according to the unwritten code set by the members of my church, I will be wearing

casual attire: ripped jeans and a semi-cropped sweater (see Figure 1). For this example, context is

imperative for my actions to be thought of as going against society’s norms (Molotch:85). If I

were going out with my friends, this same outfit would not be in violation of a dress code norm.

It could even be thought of as more “dressed up” in the context of my own home where I might

normally wear leggings or sweatpants. However, since I am choosing to wear this outfit at a
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traditional church, where the indirect clothing guidelines would not be in favor of torn and

revealing clothing, I am in violation of the social norms in a religious context.

In the example of dress code in church, I was creating a situation of statistical deviance. It

is common for people my age to wear ripped jeans as it has become a trend in recent years.

However, it is uncommon for someone to wear any sort of ripped, torn, or revealing clothing in a

religious setting. This is not an act of social deviance because there is no real rule or guideline

about what I can or cannot wear to church. If members of the congregation were asked about

proper attire in church, many would likely say that it does not matter, but what matters is that the

person is choosing to attend church. While this may be true, I suspect that these members would

still be uncomfortable or surprised if someone showed up to church in informal attire. Most

churchgoers would find this unexpected or alarming because there is a silent but mutual

understanding that church clothes should be someone’s “Sunday Best.”

Along with the context in which I will be breaking my norm, I have to consider my own

personal background as well. My age, gender, and religious views all play an important part in

influencing my act of deviance. I am a nineteen-year-old college student. This means I will be

more likely to get away with breaking a dress code norm than an adult who is older than me. On

the other hand, I will not be able to get away with my deviance as well as a small child would.

For a younger kid, the child would not be the one people would judge. Instead, people would

probably look at the parents and question why they let their kid wear inappropriate clothes to

church.

I am also a young female. It is more common for girls to be caught defying dress codes

than it is for boys. Girls are often given strict instructions about what is appropriate for their

bodies. There is an unequal standard for how males and females are expected to dress. I knew
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that since I was a girl, going against the norm of dress code would be more deviant than if a boy

were to do the same action. My religious background, along with the religious setting in which I

am breaking my norm, also influences the level of deviance. My religion teaches values of

modesty and purity, and for some members of this religion, wearing revealing clothing would be

seen as going against those values. It also influenced how far I was willing to break my norm.

Due to my religious standards for myself, I would not be comfortable wearing a t-shirt with a

crude design or with swears written on the front, and I would not be comfortable revealing too

much of my body. I chose my outfit because it pushed my norm just enough without having to

sacrifice my religious standards for myself.

I chose to violate my social norm at Roswell Street Baptist Church. This church upholds

more traditional dress codes: men typically wear a suit and tie, and women wear dresses, skirts,

or nice dress pants. As one of the trumpet players for the church, I always sit in the orchestra pit

next to a male high school student and an older man in his late fifties. The photo shows the outfit

I wore in violation of the unstated dress code norms set in my church. I am wearing jeans with

several tears on both sides of my legs as well as a sweater that reveals part of my stomach when

my arms are lifted (such as when holding up my instrument).

As I was getting dressed that morning, I was nervous about what people would think

about me. Even though I would only be violating this norm for one Sunday, I did not want

anyone to make lasting opinions about me based on one interaction. I felt uncomfortable walking

into church in my causal outfit. I knew a few college aged students would dress informally, but I

had never taken part before. I was confident that the church would not reject me for my clothing,

but it did not feel right; I was used to wearing nicer dresses and skirts to church. Every time an
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adult looked at me, I would assume the worst: “He thinks I am a lazy teenager,” “She thinks I do

not have respect for the church,” “What if he reprimands me?”

I was projecting these identities upon myself because of how I thought others were

identifying me. This example supports the ideas of Charles Horton Cooley when he says, “There

is no sense of “I”, as in pride or shame, without its correlative sense of you, or he, or they”

(Cooley:182). Another theorist, George Herbert Mead, confirms this idea by saying, “It is the

answer which the individual makes to the attitude which others take toward him when he

assumes an attitude toward them” (Mead:177). According to these theories, a person experiences

feelings about themselves based on how their surrounding peers react. In my case, my doubts

and insecurities in my outfit came from how I thought others were perceiving me.

For the most part, I only received looks from adults that I can only assume were in regard

to my outfit. I would catch a few passing eyes that I would not normally receive had I been

wearing my usual church attire. I noticed that high school and college aged teenagers did not

seem to care that I was wearing ripped jeans and a short sweater. I talked to many without any

comments or unusual glances toward my jeans. One girl my age even told me she liked my

sweater and asked where I bought it. From this study, I believe that younger generations are

more open to the breaking of social norms because of the social climate we live in. I also think

the fact that we were the same age played a role because they did not feel like they needed to

correct me because I did not know any better.

However, adults older than me may have felt like it was their responsibility to correct my

choice in clothing due to the fact that I am a teenager. I make this statement because only one

person asked me about my outfit, and it was the older man who sits next to me in the orchestra

pit. He gave me a disappointed look as he told me it was not right to wear torn up clothing to
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church. I think he believed it was his duty to inform me of the unwritten dress code for our

church because he assumed that I was unable to figure it out myself.

These reactions from people both older and younger than me were about what I expected.

I had expected to receive more verbal reactions to my outfit than I did. However, as I thought

about it more, I realized there is another norm in society that people do not usually insult

someone’s outfit, especially if they do not know them very well. The two people who

commented on my clothing have both known me for several years which led them to feel

comfortable in telling me their own opinions. I start to wonder how many members of the church

would have said something, positive or negative, if I had known them better.

After church, I went out to lunch with my family and some friends. I realized halfway

through the meal that I had forgotten I was breaking a social norm because I no longer felt

uncomfortable in the outfit I was wearing. This was due to the changing context and setting.

Since I was no longer at church surrounded by people in ties and dresses, I did not feel out of

place. I was among people in all varieties of clothing: some just coming from other church

services in dress pants and button-ups, some people in shorts and t-shirts, and some were even in

their pajamas apparently just getting out of bed. I was no longer breaking a norm due to the

change of setting.

Thus, while I thought this experiment would teach me about my peers at church, it also

taught me more about myself and how much I rely on following social norms to feel comfortable

in society. I also came to realize how much I view myself through the supposed thoughts of

others. It was not until I challenged the unstated laws of my church society that I was able to see

how everyone depends on social norms in order to feel accepted.

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Figure 1:
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REFERENCES

Cooley, Charles Horton. 1902. “The Meaning of I” Pp. 179-185 in Human Nature and the

Social Order. New York: Scribner's.

Duster, Troy and Manza, Jeff. 2016. “Crime, Deviance, and Social Control” Pp. 406 in The

Sociology Project 2.0, edited by A. Guadalupe. New York: Pearson Education, Inc.

Mead, George Herbert. 1934. “Mind, Self and Society” Pp. 152-158 and 173-178. Chicago:

University Press.

Molotch, Harvey. 2016. “Social Interaction” Pp. 85 in The Sociology Project 2.0, edited by A.

Guadalupe. New York: Pearson Education, Inc.