SA 21 P - Antonio, Arespacochaga, Chua, Velasco, Violeta

Link to Video: http://bit.ly/SA21PBreachingActivity

Antonio, Arespacochaga, Chua, Velasco, Violeta

SA 21 - P

Breaching Paper

1. What norm did you violate? For our experiment, our group decided to violate the norm of "not drinking loudly/not slurping." In the Philippines, it is expected of people to follow a certain table etiquette and manners while eating their food, especially in places where people of higher social classes are present. Though in other countries, such as Japan, slurping may be considered as something acceptable, in the Philippines, it is not "normal" to slurp as it is considered "bad manners" or "rude" (Tan, 2014). This is why our group decided to try going against this norm and observing how others would react to our deviance. The type of norm that we tried to violate was the folkway norm. In this type of norm, the behaviour is seen as eccentric and out of character from the norm. (Macionis, 2008) The norm here is that people usually don’t eat or drink their meal in a noisy manner, as it is seen as a sign of disrespect to the food and to the other people eating their food.

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

   The breaching experiment was done at the third floor of Regis Center, where our group bought drinks and slurped loudly where people could see and hear us. We chose Regis to do our breaching experiment because of how packed it is during the afternoons. It is a new food court as well so people could easily be intrigued to trying new food stalls. We also chose this area to surround ourselves with students as well. The people eating here usually belong to the higher social class, as most of the clients are studying in the universities around Katipunan. We thought that we would probably get more reactions in doing the experiment here than in an area where people are more from the lower social classes because slurping is more seen as deviant by the upper social class due to table etiquettes.

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

   There were some people who stopped and stared, while others simply ignored us. It is possible that those who were bothered by this experiment were taught by others that it is rude to slurp loudly in public, or it could be that they felt it was mannerless/rude of us to do so outside. As for those who did not mind us, it could be that it was too noisy for them to hear us. The deviant act that we performed does reinforce the norm that people should not drink loudly in public. The fact that there are some who turned to look at us shows that there is a sort of "disapproval" of what we were doing. Although the area is pretty noisy and full of people talking and laughing, the sound of slurping one’s drink is still seen as an unacceptable form of deviance.

Location	Age	Gender	Reaction
Regis, 3rd floor	18 - 22	Male	Kept turning to look
Regis, 3rd floor	18 - 22	Male	Looked for a little while before he continued walking
Regis, 3rd floor	18-22	Female	Got shocked at the slurping being done
Regis, 3rd floor	18-22	Male	Laughed with his friend

4. Aside from the norms, what SA 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.).
   

   Table etiquette is a practice done by people in higher social classes. These etiquettes are mostly rooted in history, and have all joined together to form social norms on the use of cutlery, seating arrangements, use of napkins, and the such (Richmond.com). When dining in any public restaurant or with guests, it is usually expected of people observe these etiquettes. A lot of fancy and high-end restaurants charge a lot of money for a great experience of food and service, so it is made customary that people would not disrupt the peace and serendipity of the environment by creating unnecessary noises such as chewing food, stomping your feet, clinking your utensils, and whatnot. However, in this experiment, we tried to break these social norms by creating a lot of noise while drinking our drinks from Lemon Stop. Since a lot of people in the area were part of the higher social class, people expected everyone around to follow table etiquettes, and resulted in some being shocked in hearing us slurp our drinks out loud and disrupting the eating environment. However, people in the lower social classes do not have the expectation of following these table etiquettes. An explanation is also given that people only follow table etiquette because of our obsession with social classes. For example, eating a hamburger using your bare hands is seen as a norm in the working-class, and eating it using a knife and a fork would be seen as a norm in the elite class. Eating a hamburger using your bare hands is clearly the more ergonomic way to do it, but people would prefer to use knives only to be seen as part of the elite class (Fox, 2005). Gender in Filipino context also plays a big role in here. Girls are more expected to follow a prim and proper style of eating; however, boys are not expected to follow a certain standard while eating, and can get as messy as they can in order to fully enjoy their meal. We noticed in our social experiment that there were more males that observed us when it was the girls that slurped their drinks. This is rooted in the idea that girls are supposed to be clean, and not eat or drink their meals out loud in public. Other table etiquettes that we noticed but were not able to try out is when going out on a date. Men are expected to set the table for the girl, and have them sit first before sitting down (Etiquettescholar.com). Men are also expected to pay for the bills, and are rarely seen to split the bill with the girl (Bruni, 2008).

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?
   

   We were hesitant at first with how people would judge us, however it felt easier to do as we kept doing the deviant behavior. As the deviants, it was tricky to not laugh, and keep a straight face while slurping, since the behavior wasn’t "natural" of, or familiar for us to do. If we were there for our usual reasons, like eating with friends, or studying quietly, we would keep our activity limited to our private circles of people. We wouldn’t be putting so much thought and effort into making a scene, that people from other circles would notice us. It took awhile for us to be comfortable doing it but we became more confident and engaged as we kept repeating the slurping, and as we became familiar with the expectation that people will react to us. Some were also honestly excited as to how the people around us will react. If we will get scolded at or simply be judged. Doing this social experiment made us feel very uncomfortable at first, since everything was all new to us. As we were doing the experiment, we did not know what people would say or do. Maybe they would mockingly imitate us, stare at us weirdly, or worse, confront us about it. Luckily for us, those things did not happen. We know that it may be a tad bit annoying for other people but we were glad that most of them kept to themselves.

6. Other observations and analysis that you may have on the activity and on deviance in general. The activity made us feel that we were supposed to be looked at for doing something that we deemed strange or unordinary. A lot of us were very willing to be the one to slurp out loud in public because we thought it was going to be fun to see the different reactions that we would get from the people around us, while the other half was pretty shy and just volunteered to film the reactions of the people around. However, after experiencing it or doing the social experiment it did not make us feel different. We did not feel that we were judged or looked at weirdly, most of the people just minded their own business.
   

   It was pretty embarrassing to do the deviant behaviour at first since there were no other people eating or drinking their food out loud, but as the experiment went along, the slurpers kind of got comfortable with it. It is interesting to note that although the slurping was deviant for those outside our circle, it eventually became an accepted behavior for our circle, which made doing the slurping together as a group much easier to initiate, and sustain around other people as we progressed through the activity. "Deviance" is just a term that people use to describe something that goes against what they think is "normal". There is no actual "right" or "wrong" when it comes to this. Being deviant doesn't make you wrong, it just means that you're different, so why is it that deviance is considered "bad"? Why does society tell you that you have to always fit inside the box? It is like trying to separate people. There will always be a "them" and an "us", which is perhaps what strengthens the bonds formed within a single group. For example, if "we" hate "them", the common hatred/disapproval "we" have of them makes "our" bonds stronger because it unites "us" against "them". So maybe, the whole point of there being a norm is to "sacrifice" the deviants (by isolating them/making them outcasts) in order for the conformists to be united in their conformity.

Member	Task	Accomplished	Comments
Antonio, Jaymie	Deviant behavior during filming, #5	Deviant behavior, #5, #6
Arespacochaga, Paula	Deviant behavior during filiming, #5, #6	Deviant Behavior, #5, #6
Chua, Kimberly	Filming, Norm Violated, Observations/Analysis, Reactions	Filming, Norm Violated, Observations/Analysis, Reactions
Velasco, Bea	Deviant behavior during filming, #2, #5	Deviant behavior during filming, #2, #5
Violeta, Lester	Video editing, Filming,SA Themes, Proofread	Video editing, Filming, SA Themes, Proofread

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bruni, Frank. "Old Gender Roles With Your Dinner?". Nytimes.Com, 2008, https://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/08/dining/08gend.html.

Fox, Kate. "Everybody's Talking About Etiquette, But What We're Really Interested In Is Class". Telegraph.Co.Uk, 2005, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/personal-view/3618904/Everybodys-talking-about-etiquette-but-what-were-really-interested-in-is-class.html.

Macionis, John. Sociology. Pearson Education UK, 2008.

Tan, Joanne. "Eating With Manners: A Short Guide To Food Etiquette - When In Manila". When In Manila, 2014, https://www.wheninmanila.com/eating-with-manners-a-short-guide-to-food-etiquette/. Accessed 7 May 2019.

"Philippine Dining Etiquette". Etiquette Scholar, https://www.etiquettescholar.com/dining_etiquette/table-etiquette/pacific_dinner_etiquette/filipino.html.

"The History Of Table Settings And Dining Etiquette". Richmond, 2016, https://www.richmond.com/life/celebrations/the-history-of-table-settings-and-dining-etiquette/article_ac248388-e07c-5dbf-94c8-31cf71084d76.html. Accessed 7 May 2019.