SA21 (G) - Condom Breaching Experiment

Dahon ni Charisse

Mangabat, Bryan Chester

Ofrasio, Angelique

Palacol, Karisse Ellamae

Salud, Trezsa Diane

Singson, Joseph

Yumul, Charisse

1. What norm did you violate?

The group violated the society’s norms in which 1) sex is something considered taboo and 2) engaging in premarital sex (implied by having a condom) is a sin or something generally frowned upon by society. Most prefer to not talk about sex and most still believe and follow the act of abstinence, thus making premarital sex a big issue for the society.

In this light, the group deviated from the norm that condoms are supposed to be kept private or hidden since these are viewed in a negative light by society. This was violated by having a member carrying a condom casually in her bag and/or back pocket in such a way that the condom is not secured in a private way, thus making it easy to “accidentally” take it out. Furthermore, the group deviated from the norm wherein boys are usually the ones thought to carry condoms. There seems to be a societal stigma on sexually active girls as “malandi” while sexually active boys are praised or even called “malakas” or “astig”. The fact that a double standard exists between genders pertaining to sexual activity is an effect of the gender inequality prevalent in society. In our breaching experiment, the one carrying the condom was a girl.

2. Describe the breaching experiment in detail. What was the activity? Where did you do it?

The breaching experiment focused on a female casually having a condom instead of keeping it hidden and private. The condom was “accidentally” dropped by the girl while walking, and passersby in the area got to see it. For one, the condom was placed in Charisse’s back pocket along with her phone. While walking along the footbridge, she got her phone out to answer a call and so the condom “accidentally” fell out without her noticing. Another method used was that Charisse pretended to get something from her bag but the box of condoms accidentally fell out.

The experiment was done along the footbridge near Gate 3.5 of Ateneo, and also inside the Regis Center. The reactions of the people passing by were recorded/taken note of as well as their gender in order to compare reactions. However, since we did not want to become obvious, only some of the reactions were caught on camera.

3. What were the different reactions of the people? List all possible reactions you observed. Why do you think they reacted this way? What caused these reactions? Did the deviant act re-affirm/ reinforce the existing norms based on these reactions?

• Most of the passersby widened their eyes when they saw the condom on the ground. Their facial expressions also showed that they were surprised, judgmental and confused when they realized that the condom was from a girl.  There were a lot of side glances.
• When a group of girls saw the condom, one of them shockingly said: “Oh my god, someone forgot something.”
• A pair of girls who passed by also said in a surprised manner: “Nakita mo ba yun?? Condom?”
• A girl attempted to point the condom out to her friends and she had a judgmental look on her face.
• A group of construction workers, probably in their 50s, passed by and one of them noticed the condom. His eyes widened and he looked confused/surprised but just kept on walking.
• The security guard at the footbridge called Charisse, discreetly saying: “Miss may nalaglag”. However, this could also be because he did not notice that it was a condom.
• A group of high school students paused when they saw the condom and even huddled around it a bit looking surprised.
• When a couple saw the condoms, they just walked by and looked back smiling as though it was amusing. Minutes later, the girl tweeted about what happened (shown below). It is interesting to note that Charisse did not scream when she dropped the condoms from her bag but the tweet indicated the opposite. This somehow reinforces the norm/expectation wherein one is supposed to hide possession of condoms and that if one is revealed to have condoms, the person would be conscious, “guilty” and say profanity.

• A reply to the tweet said “LAKAS SI ATE”, referring to Charisse having condoms. This actually goes against the expected norm in which sexually active females are called “malandi” while sexually active males are deemed to be “malakas” or “astig”. This could imply that the perspectives/perceptions towards different genders with sex are actually beginning to change in this certain location.

In general, the passersby who noticed the condom from Charisse gave surprised/judgmental reactions, both verbally and in their facial expressions; especially when they realized that it was a girl and not a boy that had the condom. Some passersby also did not have much reactions on the matter but it could also be because the experiment’s location was in a footbridge where people were generally busy or walking fast. This reaffirms the existing norms on premarital sex and how the society is not open to it being something casual or normal.

4. Aside from the norms, what sociological themes are at play for people to react in a certain way? Is it a function of gender (gender norms, roles), social class (norms of the rich & the poor), values/beliefs of institutions (religion, family, peer group, etc.)?

A sociological theme at play in the experiment were the values/beliefs kept by the people on premarital sex and how it is something that should be kept private and not talked about. More specifically, a sociological theme would involve religion since our country is a predominantly Catholic society which views sex as something sacred and should only be after marriage. Thus, with religion, there is a negative view against premarital sex and contraceptive use/birth control. This could be why the people reacted in the way they did and why reactions were mostly surprised or judgmental as it was against their beliefs.

Another theme present would be a function of gender wherein there was a difference in reactions. The group observed that the girls had more apparent/shocked reactions compared to boys who were more discreet about it. This could imply that the deviant act is more surprising/shocking for the female gender, leading them to become more expressive or shocked about it.

Based on the reactions, it is also possible that the people were trying to limit their reactions to mere judgmental looks, side eye glances and the like since they were in a public place and they did not know Charisse. This could be considered as their "front stage". This then leads to the tendency of people to express themselves in other channels such as online or when they have left the breaching area, which they would consider the "back stage". For example, the couple who passed by did not show a very strong reaction and yet it turns out that the girl went to her private Twitter to express her true thoughts on it and even exaggerated a bit.

5. How did you feel when you did this experiment? How does it feel to deviate from the norms? Were you hesitant to do the activity?

All of us were very hesitant in doing the experiment, especially because it involved the use of condoms. It had been previously agreed upon that everyone would do the experiments to see the differences in the reactions of the people. But even if this was the case, we still had a difficult time in deciding who would act first. The group, after seeing the people’s reactions as Charisse was doing the experiment, decided to disregard the previous plan for the sake of the experiment’s consistency.

The group also had a hard time in capturing the reactions on video. We decided to record the front view and back view of the experiment to catch the reactions of the people. It was quite hard for us because we had to make sure that we would be able to record the reactions of the people and, at the same time, make sure that these people would not notice us recording it. Though the video did not exactly capture the reactions of the people, it can be seen that most of the passersby noticed the condom and some of them even had this judging look on their faces.

It was very embarrassing for the group, especially for Charisse, because of the mere fact that we were carrying a condom. During the first few tries, all of us hesitated and felt awkward when we had to pick the condom up. There were also instances wherein as the other groupmates picked the condom up, some people would notice it and give us a judging look.

The unease we felt at first, while doing the experiment, somehow dissipated as we did the test over and over again. We got more comfortable as the experiment went on, and the previous hesitation we had was gone. At first, we were afraid to be stigmatized as “malandi” or “walang modo”  as we conducted the experiment, but we soon realized that if the passersby looked at us in “that” way or if the people made negative remarks about us, then our breaching had worked.

6. Other observations and analysis that you may have on the activity and on deviance in general.

In addition, an old woman who saw the condom seemed to be more scandalized compared to the younger ones who reacted. Although the younger ones still looked scandalized, they also laughed about it. This shows a difference in the views between generations wherein older generations disapprove of premarital sex greatly while younger ones, although still disapproving, have become more open to it becoming a “laughing matter”.

The group observed how the reactions were also dependent on if the passersby was able to notice  the condom while walking along the footbridge/Regis building. We also noticed some difference in reaction times wherein some passersby reacted immediately when they saw the condom while others were still bewildered on what it was before realizing.

Upon doing the experiment, the group realized that although it was embarrassing, it was actually fun to deviate from the norms. There is a fun aspect in having an excuse to do something one does not normally do, such as buying a condom, since we would not be able to do this normally. The group also felt a sense of accomplishment every time we saw someone react to the experiment negatively, thus reaffirming the existing norms. We observed how deviant acts would really get reactions from the people around.