SA21 B - "Is This Your Condom?" Breaching Experiment

Group Name: Nathan & Co.

Kyle Chua, Zoe De Ocampo, Cesca Lee, Jeanine Rojo, Nathan Sarcia, Danica Uy

1. What norm did you violate?

The breaching experiment violated the norm of not talking about sex and matters related to it in public. To be specific, condoms are not something one usually encounters when walking around the mall because it is portrayed as, and must remain, personal and intimate, not at all public.

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

The breaching experiment was to go up to random strangers, hand them a condom and pretend that they had dropped it, while we tell them, “I think you’ve dropped this.” This was done one by one by each of the group members, so that it would not be too obvious that it was an experiment. The experiment was done in UP Town Center, and the group chose different kinds of people to be able to observe differences in their reactions. More specifically, the group compared their reactions through various gender permutations (e.g. Male member from the group would ask a female stranger, vice versa).

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 reaffirm or reinforce the existing norms based on these reactions?

Most of the people were initially shocked upon seeing the condom and denied that it was theirs, but most had the quick instinct to take it before finding out what it was.

Below is a list of the reactions observed:

• Two male friends: one checked his pockets (instinctive reaction to being asked if he dropped something) and denied; the other one said “no, that would be weird”
• A middle-aged man: did not say anything, shook his head and then looked at the condom and then shook his head even more while smiling as if about to laugh
• A group of girls: their eyes widened upon seeing the condom and denied
• A group of friends: looked very bothered and denied
• A couple: woman looked at the man, the man paused and denied, but kept staring as if to process what happened
• A young Chinese couple: both stared at the condom without saying anything, denied after a while, but kept on staring
• A couple with 2 male friends: the boyfriend denied, but one of the male friends said it was his and was handed the condom. After our group member walked away, he called the member back, saying it was a joke. The group member then proceeded to tell him that he wasn’t kidding which the male friend gave a look of sudden shock and disbelief and returned the condom
• A touchy couple: they were rushing; when the condom was handed, the man stared at it while the woman stared at the man as if accusing him of something; the man denied and was very defensive

It is taboo to talk about sex and matters related to it publicly, so the expected reaction was for them to be shocked that something private was made public. It can also be assumed that there is a negative connotation to using or even just owning condoms in this society and it is not something that people are comfortable with talking about, especially to strangers. The deviant act reaffirmed this existing norm.

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, social class, or values or beliefs of institutions?

For this experiment, the context of how we are in a Catholic country in which contraceptives is still a controversial matter, was also at play for people to have reacted in the way they did. The Catholic church stood against the passing of the Reproductive Health Bill, which would permit easier access to contraception and sex education in our country. Most Filipinos are Catholic, although this does not insist that Filipinos, even the devout, do not use contraceptives. This also plays a role in their being conservative, and how that translates to their treating of sex as a taboo subject.

Institutional-wise, contraceptives was made a social and moral issue rather than a health issue. This can be seen in the teachings of the Catholic Church and the lessons on, or lack of, sex education in schools. Viewing condoms or sex-related materials is therefore made uncommon in society, which can be supported by the initial reactions of all the subjects.  

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?

Doing the experiment was fun and amusing; however, it was not eye-opening because we already saw the reactions coming. The experiment therefore affirmed our assumptions. We were quite hesitant to do the activity for fear that we might get caught, or that people might think it was a joke and get mad at us. We cautiously picked out the people whom we did the experiment to; we did not approach older people and parents with children because we were afraid that they might be offended or would react very negatively.

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

With the couples’ reactions, we observed that they all assumed that it was the man who may have dropped the condom and not the woman. Even when the man knew he did not drop the condom, he looked guilty of it. We also observed that when we bought the condoms, the cashier looked at us as if judging us. When we were sitting at a bench, the man who sat beside us looked uncomfortable upon seeing that we were holding out and talking about the condoms casually. 

Doing something deviant can be very embarrassing, especially when it feels as if everyone is judging and ridiculing you. However, when you really think about the deviance and realize that there is technically nothing wrong with what you are doing, it in some way relieves you of the shame that you feel.