Christine Felix

Yanta Zubiri
Gino Roque
Jonard Koa
Yun Ji
Clinton Lim

SA21 - A

Breaching Experiment
Violating the norms of private sexual relations

1. The group attempted to violate the norm of privacy of sexual relations. The Philippines being a conservative country is traditional in nature, believing that sexual relations should only be limited to married people and not young teenagers who just recently met in a commercial establishment.

2. The breaching experiment was done in 2 waves. The first wave being done in Eastwood wherein 2 actors would enter a commercial establishment and pretend to be strangers who jut met in the shop. The two would get to know each other and in a span of few minutes, leave the establishment with the intention to "hook up" and have a "quickie". The target audience would be the store personnel who were busy assisting the two customers.

3. The reactions of the store personnel were mostly out of amusement. With the belief that "customers are always right", they did not he the courage to intervene and reprimand the promiscuous way of their potential customers. The store personnel started whispering with each other, once the "couple" has left the parameters of the establishment. There were also others who cajoled and made haughty remarks on the sexual aggression of teenagers these days. High-5s were shared, as well as knowing smiles between the workers of the establishment.

4. Their reactions elicited from the audience further instilled the violation of norms being committed by the actors. Their reactions although inclined to amusement, showcase doubt on the break of pattern (privacy in sexual relations and chastity) in the youth.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS:

The Philippines, a highly Catholic nation, is home to a society that practices conservatism to the dot. Their practices and traditions are shaped by the moral standards set by the church. Promiscuous activities such as hooking up in public, PDA and alike, are frowned upon in the Filipino society.

Prudence is something that Filipinos, young or old, are taught in their households. Chastity is something that is highly valued, sex, being a taboo topic in the households is also highly discouraged to be demonstrated and talked about in public. In our breaching experiment, the group decided to tackle and challenge these values that are deeply engraved in our society by staging a scenario wherein a guy would ask an accomplice for a quickie in his condo. The two would pretend to be strangers who just recently met in a commercial establishment. Within 60 seconds, the two would get to know each other and leave for some quick casual sex.

With this breaching experiment being done in establishments that cater to sports enthusiasts. The environment of the experiment is confined to the sales staff and the actors. This then limits the experiment to the reactions of the sales staff or the employees who are working in these establishments. The workers are most probably from the middle or lower middle classes, these sectors of the society are more conservative and traditional in nature; thus, proposals for casual sex are considered as highly liberated and "unnatural" (out of the norms). To add to that, the experiment was done within the first 2 hours the mall was opened, canoodling early in the day makes the experiment more out of the ordinary, creating an impression of intense sexual aggression of the actors. The reactions of the participants are mostly of amusement. In one of the establishments in EastWood, high-fives were shared by those who have overheard the actors' lewd conversation. In another establishment, the sales staff start gossiping and relating what they have overheard to their co-workers with the interjection of rude cajoling. Echoes of "lakas" and "score" were heard from the male participants. Laughs and prejudiced comments were elicited from female participants on the other hand. These reactions of the participants further intensify the initial impression of sexual aggression among the actors. Shaking of heads and a chorus of "tsk" were also observed. The predominant reaction of smiling and gossiping blurs the line between amusement and bewilderment. The participants are shocked at the same time entertained with the unusual sexual proposal they have observed. Males often react with teasing remarks and bemused amusement while female participants were mostly flabbergasted with the impending sexual encounter the young actors have proposed.

The differences in the reactions of the two sexes also reflect the background of the two sexes with regards to sexuality and sexual expression. Males are mostly expressive of their sexuality rather than women, for women have been constricted in their sexual freedom in the past. Thus the women were mostly reacting in a more conservative way, by gossiping about the incident in a more hushed tone as opposed to the men whose comments could be more readily heard. At the same time, some women acted in a more morally judging way by the reaction of “tsk”, which shows a distaste for the action that had been done in front of them. The discrepancy between the reactions of the men and the women highlight and reveal the underlying gender norms that male and females face. Women have to be more reserved, which was shown in the hushed tone of the gossiping, and less vocal especially in topics such as sex. On the other hand, men are more vocal even with topics as taboo as sex. This discrepancy in vocality shows and re-affirms the present power struggle between the two genders, with the men being more dominant and vocal, and the women having to bow down by taking the more reserved and less vocal role.  

            Based on the results and reactions from the act of deviance, we could see a reinforcement of the norm of sexual topics being a taboo topic in casual situations, which showed the regard for the value of chastity. Evidences of this were shown by the sales clerks and employees reacting towards the deviant act with amusement, bewilderment and distaste instead of apathy or disregard. This shows that our society still considers this act as deviant or not a norm because of the reactions toward this act were anything but disregard. In addition, it can be observed that the church’s teachings of chastity and giving reverence to the topic of sexual intercourse is still greatly influencing the choices and actions we make. This considerable influence, in a way causes us to be less free due to the fact that society will judge our actions according to what they feel is right or wrong, and the topic of sexual in casual situations is still a taboo topic that is still meant to only be discussed in closed doors.

            Finally, through this breaching report we’ve observed and realized a lot of things about the society we dwell in. We’ve realized that the social norms such as sex as a taboo topic is still very present, though it might not be seen through the normal lenses that we see without having to break the norms we perceive to have established in society. Furthermore, the reactions we’ve observed through the experiment have also shown further light towards the norms that each gender faces and it shows that there are norms within the general society and also there are norms as well in more specific gender roles. Lastly, we also realized that although the Americans left a big impact in our culture and how we act, we still cling to the Spanish’s teachings of values and conservatism through the church that they have left us with, which still plays a very big role in each of our daily lives and which also possibly and arguable constricts our freedom of thought and action.