Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

Erving Goffman (1963) describes three types of “stigma,” or attributes that are socially discrediting: violations of accepted behavior or belief, membership in a despised national, religious, or racial group, and abominations of the body. The final category involves physical characteristics that compromise bodily appearance or functioning. Whether voluntarily or involuntarily acquired, abominations of the body can be regarded as a form of deviance. Like the other types of stigma, undesirable physical characteristics isolate some individuals, disqualifying them from “full social acceptance” (p. 1). Everything about the stigmatized person is interpreted in light of the negative trait, so that interaction with the non-stigmatized is often awkward and uncertain. Tension is manifest in people's tendency to avoid eye contact, make guarded references to the stigma, or avoid everyday words that suddenly become taboo; it leads both parties to consider avoiding or withdrawing from encounters. Two main types of bodily abomination are violations of aesthetic norms and physical disability . Aesthetic norms are standards for appearance, including height, weight, and the absence of disfigurement. Individuals whose body deviates from the norms of their society are often treated as less than fully human. Examples include uncircumcised females in many African countries and hermaphrodites (who ... log in or subscribe to read full text