How an individual's physical characteristics and social status can determine their label in their society.
             Imagine that you are walking home one Friday night, maybe from a friend's house, or maybe from a late night at the office. After walking for about five minutes, you decide to take a short cut through a path behind a corner store. While walking down the trail you see a young woman, probably in her twenties, wearing nice clothes, hair put back into a bun, and carrying a purse. A few minutes later when walking through a well-lit area, you see a teenage male, wearing a hooded sweatshirt and jeans, walking with his hands by his side. If this happened, chances are you would get more nervous when you seen the male teenager walking towards you. Why? You saw the young female in a secluded area. Plus she was carrying a purse, which could have been hiding a weapon. The young man on the other hand, you saw in a well-lit area, and his hands were visible at all times. It is easy to see that people are often labeled as deviant based on physical characteristics and social status rather than their actions.
             Physical characteristics such as gender and race have a major impact when it comes to labeling individuals as deviant. Studies have shown that most crimes committed are by males. Although females tend to be victims, it does not mean they do not commit crimes. In fact, crime among women is rising, and many crimes involving women go un-reported, such as a husband getting physically abused by his wife. Many men would not report these events to the police, either out of pride or embarrassment. For the most part, men are portrayed to be more violent and aggressive than women, leaving society to believe that women are less threatening, which in turn labels more men as deviant. Race is another physical characteristic that unfortunately has a huge impact on the label an individual will receive. Although some racial and ethnic groups have hi...