Deviant Behavior in Women

When someone thinks of deviant behavior he or she is often thinking about deviant behavior in men. With books and movies like Fight Club expressing the definition of deviance in a masculine and violent way, it is clear why women are usually not associated with such terms. Women are supposed to be fragile and delicate. There's no way they'd be involved in such violent acts as those portrayed in this story. The ideas of Fight Club centers around the need to give up material possessions and essentially lose yourself in order to truly find yourself. The men in this novel did this through fighting and other forms of violence. There were no women involved in Fight Club but that does not mean that women don't also express deviant behavior. It's just in a different form.

The characters in Fight Club chose to take out their aggression by fighting each other. Causing harm to not only themselves, but to others. A woman's form of deviant behavior centers more around one person - the self. Drug and alcohol abuse are prevalent in both men and women. They use drugs and alcohol as a way of "hitting bottom" just like the men in Fight Club did through violence. They are completely disregarding the standards set by society of how women are supposed to act. In many ways women will also take the standards set by society to the extreme in order to hit bottom. For example many women suffer from eating disorders. It is true that there are many factors that lead to such disorders, but it is also a way of showing society about the ridiculous standards set by society for women.