Baseball: Alcoholic Beverage and Social Norm Essay

Sociology 1101
Breaching a Social Norm
Tiffany Wagner
10/20/13

The social norm I plan on violating is a pregnant woman being served and consuming an alcoholic beverage in a local bar. I believe the majority of our society would be appalled by a woman drinking and putting her own personal needs and desires before the needs of her unborn child. This social norm exists because we feel as a society that a mother should always put the needs of her child first and absolutely above her own. Especially, when it comes to doing drugs or drinking while pregnant. This norm gives social control and insures that along with the shame hopefully there will be less instance of fetal alcohol syndrome, infant death, and other birth defects related to a mother consuming alcohol while pregnant. I plan is to dress myself as a clearly pregnant woman, enter a bar and proceed to consume several alcoholic beverages. I am hoping that the bar will be busy and I can get a lot of reaction. I plan on going with a friend and sit so that I am visible to as many other customers and staff as possible. I think I may even order a pretty strong drink or maybe even a shot or two, to make sure I get a strong reaction. I definitely think the reactions will vary. I predict there will be a lot of talking and whispering throughout the bar. I imagine people will comment and whisper amongst themselves about how appalled and upset they are with my decision. I am not sure how many people will have the guts to come up to me and say something. Our society also frowns on strangers interjecting into another person’s personal business. There is however always that one person who feels outraged enough to speak their mind. I think there is a good possibility that a waitress or bartender may refuse to serve me any alcohol at all. It’s a Friday night about 9:00 pm, I have my round pillow under my tight shirt as I enter Slate Street Bar in Rio Rancho. I look about seven or eight months pregnant. The bouncer checks my ID as I enter the bar and gives me a little bit of a strange look. It’s a sports type bar with pool tables and a small dance floor. We choose a tall able in the center of the bar where we can be seen from all angles. There are about thirty-five to forty people in the bar at this time. The customers range in ages from about mid 20’s to late 50’s. There are two bartenders, two bouncers, and five waitresses. The bar seems a little slow and too loud yet, it may be a little early. We sit down and don’t seem to be getting much attention or really noticed. The waitress comes over to take our order and I decide to start out slow and order a beer. She seems to hesitate a bit but doesn’t say anything. She is young and I don’t think she knew what to say and maybe a bit intimidated since I am older than her. She brings the beer and I notice a woman and her husband who are sitting nearby lean into each other and start talking and looking in our direction. As we sit and I slowly sip my beer I am getting a few looks and I think people are talking about me but not really too big of a deal. I decide as I am almost done with my beer that I am going to now order something a little stronger. The waitress returns and I order a vodka and coke. Still she says nothing but you can tell she is uncomfortable and takes a long look at my belly before leaving the table. She returns with our drinks after having a long conversation with the bartender down at the end of the bar. I can only assume they were discussing me since I couldn’t hear anything and they had their backs turned to us. We sit and slowly drink our drinks and it is clear more people in the bar are looking and talking about us. At one point a guy playing pool with his girlfriend actually points and say aloud…..” now that’s responsible parenting for ya”! I looked his way but didn’t respond. I was hoping to get more reaction before being asked

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Baseball: Alcoholic Beverage and Social Norm Essay

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